Saints in party mode after thrilling grand final victory
THE celebrations have kicked on strong for Saints Eagles Souths after the club claimed its first North Queensland Football Premier League title in almost a decade.
A heroic extra-time brace from North Queensland Football’s golden boot Campbell Hume delivered the premiership to the Saints after a thrilling
MA Olympic.
Hume’s double put the Saints ahead by three before a late Olympic goal capped off the game at 4-2.
The glory was felt right through the Saints camp, from the players on the field, coach Mat Smith on the bench, right through to the volunteers who maintain their club grounds on a weekly basis. clash with
Smith, who was still in the midst of celebrations yesterday, told the Bulletin it was a crowning achievement for the 15-man squad.
“The fact of it is we just won the grand final and that is all that matters,” Smith said.
“(The celebrations) have been good, it is a magic time for this club. This has meant more than you can imagine for me personally.”
Saints will aim to ride the emotion of their premiership glory over MA Olympic into a high-profile Crad Evans Shield clash with Edge Hill United this weekend.
Smith said he would give the squad a day off today to rest their bodies after a gruelling 120minute battle, before getting back to training later this week.
“Everyone has come out feeling relatively all right, 120 minutes is always going to hurt you physically so we will need to give the boys a bit of time,” he said. “These boys have worked hard and trained hard to make it to this moment. They will be right.
“Our main focus was winning the premiership and winning the grand final.
“Crad Evans is just a bonus point for us that will cap off our season.”