DEC Patton admits his goalkicking in Bulls' previous TV game was "not acceptable", and he was delighted to lay a few demons to rest on Monday night.
The stand-off was superb in the nail-biting 26-22 Betfred Championship win at rivals Halifax Panthers, landing four conversions and a penalty to end up with a perfect record from the tee.
Factor in his three try assists, and it was up there with Patton's best performances in a Bulls jersey.
He told the T&A: "Obviously when we were last on telly against Featherstone, I don't think my kicking has ever been as bad as that in my life (Patton landed none of his three goal attempts in a 26-12 defeat).
"It's my job to score those, so I don't expect anything other than to make them.
"It's sweet to get them I suppose but I expect to, so to miss them all against Fev was not acceptable.
“It’s nice for the team that my kicks helped make the difference in a tight game at Halifax, but I would always put pressure on myself to land them anyway.”
Patton’s playmaking at Bulls has been criticised in the past, but it was hard to argue with his efforts on Monday night, as he set up Sam Walters, Kieran Gill and Tom Holmes for tries.
Besides, the 27-year-old said: “I don’t pay attention to what others think, other than the people who matter on the staff and on the field.
“I know I’ve got that playmaking ability in my locker and we’ve been trying different combinations since the start of the year.
“Sometimes there are different people there in different positions because of injuries and suspension, so it’s just a case of getting used to each other’s ability.
“You can see that came off at Halifax and we can look to build on that now.”
Despite some excellent displays at Odsal, Monday night marked Bulls’ first win on the road this season, and Patton said: “It’s been a while since we beat Fax and even though we’d made a good start at home, we’d struggled away.
“This result gets a monkey off our back and to do it against a top team like Fax makes it even better.”
The win was all the more impressive given an injury-ravaged Bulls only had 12 fit players on the field in the final few minutes.
Patton recalled: “When I looked over towards the touchline near the end, I thought someone was getting stripped off to come on, I didn’t know what had gone on in terms of us having no-one else left to bring on because of injury.
“Going down to 12 men just shows the team mentality we have now, like with Sam Walters busting a gut to make a tackle right at the end having played nearly the whole game.
“When you’re down in a game like that, it often brings that fire out in you.
“It did at Fax, and it doesn’t matter how you win or how much by, as long as you do it.”
Despite Holmes and Myles Lawford challenging Patton for a place in the halves, he remains confident of starting.
He said: “I always back my ability, but it’s nice to have good players in the squad because you know if you don’t play well, you won’t be selected.
“It’s good to have consistency in the team and I think if you’re clicking as a side, that only helps improve individuals.”
