BLOOMFIELD have never looked this dangerous before.

The Orange side will go into today’s men’s Premier League Hockey preliminary major semi-final at full strength, with plenty of confidence and coming off a win.

Bloomfield finished third in the regular season while Souths came in second, just two points ahead of the Orange side.

The two sides are drawn at one apiece when it comes to their head-to-head matches this season.

In round six Bloomfield secured a handy 3-1 win in Orange but the tables turned in round 15 when Souths had

a strong 7-3 victory in Bathurst.

Bloomfield captain-coach Matt Lyons said there is no shortage of motivation for today’s semi-final.

“The boys are keen. It’s hard not to get excited for the semis,” Lyons said.

“When we played and (Souths) beat us, it was one of those games where we started poorly. We’ll be looking to get off to a good start this time.”

Lyons knows today’s match is going to be tough but he is feeling confident after Bloomfield won their final-round match 2-0 against St Pat’s last week.

Bloomfield had struggled in previous rounds but Lyons believes last week’s win was exactly what his players needed.

“There were a lot of positives from that game,” he said.

“We had a lot of attacking opportunities. Hopefully we’ll put a few more of them away this week.

“We needed to win that game to give us a bit of a confidence boost. Our confidence had been a bit shaky because we’d lost a few games. That win was good for us.”

Having beaten Souths once before, Lyons is confident Bloomfield can do it again.

“They have strength across the paddock,” Lyons said of Souths.

“I think we’re pretty much the same. When we’re on our game we’re strong right across the park.

“I think we’re easily as good as them, if not better. I’m expecting to win.”

Lyons will have one headache today and that will be picking a starting side, as he will have all his players available to him.

Today’s game will be played in Bathurst at 1.50pm.

The winner will move into the major semi-final against Lithgow Panthers and the loser will contest the minor semi-final next week.

In the other men’s PLH elimination semi-final today, Bathurst St Pat’s will host Parkes Magpies.

The Parkes side has won both encounters with St Pat’s this season, taking out their round nine match 3-1 in Parkes and backing it up with a round 18 5-3 victory in Bathurst.

The two sides will clash in Bathurst at 3.20pm and the loser will drop out of the competition.