Lockington Bamawm United has ended more than 1100 days of anguish after it won its first game in more than three years with a six-goal victory over Leitchville-Gunbower.
The Cats’ most recent victory was in round one of 2019 before defeating the Bombers 47-41 at Gunbower Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
For LBU A-grade coach Jess Hardess, the win was a long time coming.
She said it was a great feeling once the final siren went.
“I feel pretty good. There’s not much bad you can say about Saturday,” Hardess said with a laugh.
“There was a bit of celebration, but everyone had worked so hard that I think we were all just relieved to get a win after all the hard work.
“I think it was a lot of relief and to know that when we set our goal to be competitive this year, we can actually do it.”
The match was set up to be a big clash, with Leitchville-Gunbower coming off its first win of the season last week after only winning one game in 2021.
Hardess said it was a tight contest from the first whistle.
“It was a really hard hit-out from the word go,” she said.
“We got a jump in the first quarter but couldn’t hold on to it. Leitchy came back and we were only up by one at quarter-time and then we were even at half-time.
“The third quarter, they call it the premiership quarter. We came out and said ‘we can do this’ and we got up by half-a-dozen and that really set us up for the rest of the game.”
That third quarter surge proved to be the difference between the two sides, with LBU holding the Bombers at bay to win by six goals.
Jesie Milligan and Imogen Mackenzie were two of the standout performers for LBU on Saturday, with Hardess saying it was a great team effort across the board.
“Jesie had a standout game again. She is absolutely excelling at training and she got a lot of rebounds and intercepts on Saturday. She played a stellar game in defence,” she said.
“MacKenzie, she really steadied the centre. (Leitchville-Gunbower’s) Lauren Dehne is an incredible player and coaches that team really well, but Imogen did the same thing up our end and steadied it through.”
Hardess said getting the win would hopefully have a huge impact on the playing group and its belief.
“For the last two games, the girls have really started to understand that when we step up and we really set our goals and we really try to achieve them that we can be that competitive team,” she said.
“I think that’s the most important part — that belief running through that when we set goals, we can make things happen.
“The goal was never to get a win — the four points are great and it is amazing – but our goal was to be competitive and give every single club a run for their money. That’s what we wanted to do. You could see that everyone who got on the court was playing for each other.”