VICTORY finally came to the Lady Hawks Touch Tag team, at a very special home game at Myall Park on Saturday, 3 June.

Determination was palpable as the Ladies took to the field, squaring off against the Glendale Gorillas, a team similarly placed on the ladder, presenting a solid opportunity to break the Hawks’ drought.

The Lady Hawks maintained clear domination in the first half, keeping the ball well and truly in their forward half of the field, enacting some miraculous taggings to save the odd Glendale breakout to their backlines.

The Hawks’ defence even started to get a bit physical, as the Gorillas’ apparent ‘tag-avoidance’ strategy involved launching themselves into the air to try to jump the defensive lines.

The Hawks stopped several Glendale girls from breaking through, in some cases their defence was so close that opposition players lost both tags at once.

The Hawks’ powerful attack was finally rewarded when Chloe Tito landed her first try of the game, successfully converted by Lakeia Saunders.

Glendale hit back hard after that, but the Hawks held fast as the half-time siren sounded.

As the second half got underway, the Lady Hawks’ resolve to keep and advance their lead was clear, as was their thirst for a first win this season.

Mere minutes in, a second try was grounded by Chloe Tito, successfully converted by Treznae Wolter.

Fantastic footwork and dodging by Abbey Fenner, Sara Galea, Taylah Cooke and Shian Perry led to several strikes at the line, culminating in a formidable domination of the ball by the Lady Hawks.

Further tag-avoidance manoeuvres paralleled a ballet of sorts, as the girls leapt and twirled through the opposition’s lines.

Glendale closed ranks in the end, scoring a consolation try in the fourth-last minute, but unable to convert.

The final siren was like a song for the ecstatic Lady Hawks, as they jubilantly celebrated their first win, and rightly so after a hard-won victory like this one.

By Thomas O’KEEFE