Albury United pushed to the limit by rapidly-improved St Pats

The Greens raced to a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes thanks to strikes from Miruna Muroz and Alicia Torcaso.

However, Patties rallied and pulled one back through the classy Claire Mahoney five minutes from half-time.

St Pats picked up where they left off in the second half and were level after 55 minutes when Isabella Barbaro, in her first league game for the club after serving a backdated five-match suspension, rounded the goalkeeper and calmly finished.

But it was United who would escape with all three points as Abbey Collins capatalised on a defensive error with 10 minutes to play to seal the 3-2 victory.

Greens' coach Tony Cigana was pleased with the result, particularly given the absence of star midfielder Brea Quinlivan.

"Both sides played really well, it was a really good game of football," Cigana said.

"At the end of the day, I'm rapt.

"We got out of jail, but in saying that it shows I've got a bit of depth to cover those players I didn't have.

"The first 20 minutes we were all over them, but they had the next 20 minutes and put us under enormous pressure.

"We needed to be really tested and we were."

Cigana praised the performance of Mahoney, who was amongst everything for St Pats.

"Claire absolutely killed us with her speed and movement off the ball," he said.

"She's a brilliant player and she can understand why she's a Star Player.

"In saying that, I've got a very unified unit and they all work together.

"At the end of the day, a win's a win."

St Pats coach Josh O'Farrell admitted the slow start ultimately cost his side.

"We just didn't get our backline right in the first 20 and they were able to get in behind us," he said.

"We were really trying to get Katie (Fruend) to sit in behind, she's the quickest player on the field and no-one was going to get past her when she sat back that second half."

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Barbaro was also a standout for Patties and will make a huge difference as the season wears on.

"She just gives us that extra target," O'Farrell said.

"Even young Tess Spry, that was her second game tonight and she started getting a bit of aggression and ran at them and looked really good.

"It's not just Issy coming in, there's a few other girls that are really starting to step up.

"It's taking pressure off Claire because we know she's going to draw two or three.

"We're working hard on the other girls understanding, if Claire has drawn two that means we've got to have two free somewhere.

"After Boomers (4-0) last week and to follow it up tonight with that game was really pleasing.

"It's unfortunate about the result, but if we can play that sort of football, a lot of teams will struggle to beat us."

United hosts Melrose on Sunday, while St Pats travel to Wangaratta.

Patties' defender Maggie Duck is confident of another strong display from the side.

"They're fairly strong in the midfield, so I think that's an important area we need to break down for them and step up for us," Duck said.

"We need to focus on our ball skills and fitness as well because they're quite fast.

"We need to train a bit harder and focus a bit more on our strength in the field and passing.

"I feel like we still have a chance to do that (win the title) if we work hard and play the level football we brought to the table last week."

Boomers have forfeited against Albury City.