THERE were emotional scenes when Lake Macquarie Dockers broke through for their first win in two years in their Black Diamond AFL First Division game on Saturday.
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Coach Mick Sleeth said the last time the Dockers sang the club song for a win in First Division was in Round 8 of season 2014.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time coming,” he said.
Lake Macquarie proved too good for Cardiff, winning 8-6-54 to 7-1-43, at Tulaba Park, Teralba.
Sleeth said a fracas right on fulltime had little impact on his team’s jubilation.
“It was pretty good in the rooms. The club song was sung with plenty of gusto,” he said.
“One of our guys had lost his father during the week, so there was some emotion with that, too.”
This year is Sleeth’s first in charge of the first division team, but he has been involved as a coach at junior level for several years.
He said the breakthrough win was simply built on the players’ belief.
“I really think they just wanted to win, more than anything. They finally believed that they could actually do it,” Sleeth said.
Lake Macquarie kicked the first three goals of the match, which provided valuable momentum.
“Their confidence went up and up after that. We were in front all day, and had a two- or three-goal margin for most of the game.”
The coach said playing with a lead was new territory.
“We just tried to play possession football,” he said.
Lake Macquarie had played several of the competition’s top teams in recent weeks and had proved competitive.
Against Cardiff, the coach said full forward Joel Jannison was a standout, booting three goals and battling hard for possession all game.
Daniel Zuzac impressed at centre half-back, taking strong marks and kicking long until he was forced from the field in the third quarter after sustaining a broken nose.
On-baller Tim Wells also produced another energetic performance.
“Tim is only 18, and slightly built, but he’s a goer and works really hard,” Sleeth said.
The result was a fitting reward for the team’s dedication to the football club, and their commitment to continual improvement, the coach said.
Lake Macquarie will host competition leaders Singleton this Saturday from 1pm.