Re-living the Kempsey Saints 2017 reserve grade premiership victory

The green and white of the Kempsey Saints, one of many football teams in the Macleay, celebrated their maiden senior title back in 2017, bringing home the chocolates to a club yearning for success.

Back in 2015, the Saints reserve grade side suffered the ultimate heartbreak, surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Grand Final to lose in a penalty shootout.

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To make matters worse, the side had held the lead until the last 10 minutes of the match with the Wallis Lake team re-surging late to score twice, withstanding the pressure of extra-time and as mentioned, putting Saints to the sword in penalties to steal victory.

Captain Alex Breckell, previously told the Argus how disappointing that 2015 loss was and how it would assist them in breaking the title hoodoo.

"It was a tough loss, I don't think I will ever get over it," he said.

"It will help push us to do all the little things right.. the loss brought us closer and it has given us big match experience."

The Saints sure made up for the despair they endured in 2015, trouncing the Forster-Tuncurry Tigers in the 2017 Grand Final with a dominant 6-0 scoreline.

The six goals tells an obvious story in how the Saints controlled the majority of the game, maintaining possession and territory.

The score at half-time read 1-0, with Liam King giving the green and whites a tight lead.

The referees whistle to start the second half signalled the beginning of the end for the Tigers with Man of the Match, Mitch Clarke, extending the lead with an absolute rocket from 25m out six minutes in.

Clarke then slotted a penalty to make it 3-0 with coach Kevin Sinclair labeling it as the biggest moment in the match.

"The third goal broke the Tigers' back, from then on we controlled the whole game but we definitely weren't celebrating early," he previously said.

A red card to the Tigers saw a free kick given to substitute Kurtis Smith who crossed the ball in to give Liam King a double.

Smith then went on to make the score 5-0 with another sub, Griffin Ryan, putting away the 6^th and final goal.

Sinclair said the scoreline was certainly a shock.

"We were all expecting another nail-biter, similar to the 1-0 match in the grand final qualifier," he said.

"It was a tremendous effort from club members, players, coaches and the committee over the past eight years.

"We had a great mix of senior and youth players, shaping a premiership team."