NORTHERN Storm defeated Sawtell 3-2 at Korora on Saturday to make it three wins in a row as they fly up the North Coast Football Premier League.

Storm co-coach and president Craig Caruana reflected on the match with mixed feelings.

“A bit frustrated at our performance, it wasn’t a 90 minute display, which I think both teams were guilty of.

“We took a deserved lead only to let Sawtell back into the game too easily, then to miss a penalty and fall behind after conceding one,” he said.

Nevertheless, Caruana praised his side’s resilience and ability to bounce back.

“I thought we did really well to pick ourselves up, play with some creativity and passion and score two well taken goals to take the three points.”

The Storm have the wind in their sails after chalking up three wins in a row and bringing back players from injury who will influence their campaign going into the business end of the season.

“It was great to have Tom Sweeny and Connor Lewis back finally who have only played three games between them all season,” Caruana said.

“We have missed both of them and the impact they can have in the final third in the first half of the season and we’ll be a lot better off when the two of them are fully fit and can play more minutes in this back end of the season.”

Nine points in three matches has propelled the Northern Storm into joint second place on the table with 15 points alongside Coffs Coast Tigers.

Coffs United Lions drew 4-4 with the Coffs Coast Tigers which allowed the Woolgoolga Wolves to extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points after defeating Westlawn Tigers 3-1.

By David WIGLEY