Wodonga Saints thrash Wahgunyah to notch first win in almost three years

The Saints' 38.30 (258) to 3.7 (25) thrashing of the Lions was their first win since May 25, 2019.

Saints coach Zack Pleming said it was a huge relief to finally be able to belt out the club song again.

"It's great to get the monkey off the back, especially so early in the season," Pleming said.

"I would be lying if I said there wasn't any pressure.

"It just feels like a big weight has been lifted off the shoulders I guess.

"It felt good to be able to belt out that club song again and its been a long time between drinks.

"It's just satisfying to see the hard work starting to pay off.

"We got most of the club's officials in the rooms to sing the song with us.

"It's been a long time coming for all the people who have done the hard yards behind the scenes."

The Saints signalled their intentions early as they quickly opened up a 45-point lead in the opening term.

They were able to bury the opposition booting nine goals in both the second and third terms before piling on 13 more in the final quarter.

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Jesse Anderson-Clarke spearheaded the Saints' attack with seven goals alongside Ryan Jenkins who finished the match with six.

"I said to the boys after the match that this is just the beginning and hopefully there are plenty more wins in store this season," he said.

"The thing that probably pleased me most about the win was it was the younger players who really stood up.

"Getting youth through the door is something that we have focused on over the past couple of off-seasons.

"It was great to see them take that next step and the unselfishness of the players once things started to get lopsided.

"The boys were still sticking to the structures and the process and didn't go chasing kicks."

The Saints face Rutherglen this weekend and will fancy their chances of making it back-to-back wins.

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