CASEY Comets coach Tony Saunders could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief on Saturday after his side finally recorded its maiden State League Two South East win.
It took nine games for the Comets to record their first win and they did it in style, knocking off Heatherton United 2-1 at Comets Stadium.
Not that it mattered to Saunders.
“We were ecstatic (after the game), everyone was pretty ecstatic, to be honest,” he said. “It was a big relief.”
Heatherton got the early breakthrough with Alil Memedovski converting with a header from the near post, off a corner kick.
But Casey fought on and found an equaliser 10 minutes later through the dangerous Kris Paterson.
Ben Watson received a through ball and went one-on-one with the Heatherton keeper, but his shot was blocked and the rebound went out to Paterson, who slotted the ball past the defence.
The teams went into the break with the scores locked, but Saunders said his team came out after the break hungry for the win.
Paterson was a dominant factor up forward, but missed a number of chances, before finally securing the go-ahead goal midway through the half.
Steve Vernon crossed the ball in from the wing and the Heatherton goalkeeper was caught out of position contesting the ball in the air and Paterson pounced, heading through the loose ball.
Heatherton fought back in the last five minutes and almost stole an equaliser, but Casey held on for its first three-point game of the season.
This weekend the Comets take on top side Doncaster and Saunders promised his team would perform.