IT’s always a good feeling to get your first win of the sporting season.

And the Sawtell/Toormina Saints women experienced this emotion last weekend, as they recorded their first win of their AFL North Coast season.

The Sains triumphed at home beating the Grafton Tigers 4.6 (30) to 1.3 (9) at Richardson Park.

Leading by 15 points at half-time, a three goal third quarter sealed the match for the Saints as they broke through for their first win of 2021 after three straight losses to start the season.

Saints vice-captain Rhianon Taylor said it was an awesome feeling to sing the team song after their first victory of the season.

“It’s amazing and I think we really need that,” she said.

“We sang the team song with a lot of oomph and we delayed the start of the song (vocally) because we’ve waited a long time to sing it.

“I said let’s not rush this and we had a social night tonight, so it’s good to head there with a win.”

Playing in her fourth season, Taylor has been with the Saints since the introduction of the women’s competition in 2018.

She explained the importance of her side’s win against the Tigers.

“It was special to win today, being Indigenous round and having three Indigenous players,” she said.

“And it was also a chance to celebrate how far we have come as a team.”

Taylor told News Of The Area her Saints side would look to build on their recent form.

“We were so close to beating Port Macquarie two weeks ago and we only lost by a goal,” she said.

“We’ve got some big games coming up, and we’ve shown we can put some good passages of play together, we just need to do it against the better teams.”

Saints coach Bec Minichilli said she felt relieved to break through for the first win.

“It’s more relief to be honest, and it feels amazing,” she said.

“It’s great to see all the girls’ hard work they put in at training pay off.”

She said it was a true team effort against the Tigers.

“It was more of a team effort and having someone to grab a hard pass and backing them up,” she said.

“Our transition from defence to attack was also good.”

The Saints coach praised the character of her side.

“They are the most competitive and loving group I’ve coached, and if any girls are looking to play we are always looking for new players.”

 

By Aiden BURGESS