The sheer joy and relief was there for all to see at full-time on Sunday when the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles celebrated their historic first victory in the Harvey Norman Women's NSW Premiership.
In a true team performance where every girl played their heart out, the Sea Eagles showed tremendous spirit to record a well-deserved 24-20 victory over the Newcastle Knights in just their third match together in the open women's competition that is one step below NRLW.
Led by experienced captain in centre Shontelle Stowers, the Sea Eagles led 14-4 at half-time before digging dip in front of a parochial home crowd of Manly supporters to take the two competition points.
The Sea Eagles lost 18-10 to Parramatta Eels in round one before recording a 14-all draw with the Central Coast Roosters last week.
Stowers said the victory was very special considering how much work had gone into getting a team together.
“It’s an incredible feeling. The first step was getting a team at Manly, the second was pulling on that jersey, and the third step was wearing it on our home ground,'' Stowers said.
“To now get a win against an awesome team in the Knights is a great feeling.
"The support we got throughout the game was enormous. Our supporters absolutely lifted us.
"You could hear the young kids out there screaming. They don’t care if you are a guy or a girl, they just want to see Manly succeed.
"This win means so much. We have been building connections and to get to where we are already after week three is massive.
“I’m really confident of where we can get too now after getting that first win.”
Half-back Tayla Montgomery said the support the team has received since coming together for their first season had been incredible.
"It's amazing to see how much Manly publicises their girls teams. We truly appreciate it as players,'' she said.
"The turnout we had for this game was absolutely incredible. It was amazing to play in front of such a great atmosphere. The Northern Beaches people really do get behind their teams.
"We are new team still getting into the groove, but we definitely showed that we are a side that is going to go really well in this competition."
The Sea Eagles squad features several local players raised on the Northern Beaches in Teagan Long, Chelsea Smyth, Pier Pritchard, Maddison Binding, Lili Boyle, Paris Ingegenri, Nicole Backhouse, Aaliyah Paki, and Riley McKay.
Furthermore, seven players have progressed to the Harvey Norman NSW Women's team after playing for Manly in the U19s Tarsha Gale Cup competition over the past two years.
