From Sunday Age
Reported by Brent Diamond
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Frankston have broken their drought after 24 consecutive losses, shocking Richmond with a breakthrough 13-point win at Frankston Oval on Saturday.
It was the first win for coach Patrick Hill as coach of the Dolphins - who went through a winless season for the first time in the club's history last year - and their first since they defeated Collingwood in round 16, 2014.
The former Box Hill assistant said he felt a mixture of emotions when the siren rang, but was particularly upbeat about the way the Dolphins managed to win. They had trailed by 29 points at the first change.
"I think it's about 500 days we've had to wait," Hill said. "It's a mixture of emotions. It's a little bit of relief, it's a bit of a monkey off the back because now they know they can do it, particularly in the manner that they did it - to be five goals to one down in the first quarter and we then kick 15 goals to six or something like that - shows that they've got belief and if they hold true to their structures that anything can happen," he said.
It was a reward for his young, loyal players, who were captained on Saturday by AFL draft prospect Ben Cavarra.
"I'll enjoy this a little bit tonight with my family, but to be honest, people say you fall in love with your players and you certainly do. I'm so rapt for them tonight that they've got some reward for their hard work and for sticking fat and standing by the club. They deserve it," he said.
Despite some questions surrounding the clubs' viability in the AFL stand-alone club compromised league, Hill has faith in the club's journey under his reign.
"What we were working on [last year] was being better each week," he said.
"At the end of last year, we had to send some guys off for operations and that hurt us in our last two games. To retain 30 of our best 32 players is a testament to the resilience of this group. We've been able to add to it. Today they got a bit of reward," he said.
The Dolphins face Hill's former club Box Hill next Sunday at Box Hill City Oval. Hill expects the club to have at least a couple more wins on the board this season, if they complete like they did against the Tigers.
"We just have to put ourselves in games … we're a young, exciting team, we're going to have fluctuations. If we play like we did today, there's a couple more wins for the club," he said.
The Dolphins — along with newly stand-alone club North Ballarat — have each won a match from three attempts. Both teams had been tipped to finish on the bottom of the ladder.
Coburg, another VFL struggler, got within eight points of Box Hill and almost upset the powerhouse, after a close 10-point loss to Port Melbourne last week.
For the second consecutive week, Ahmed Saad threatened to be the match-winner. He booted five goals and was dominant in the second half, before Hawks skipper David Mirra restricted his influence in the final term.
The Lions led by 10 points at the final change. Saad's fifth goal of the match came shortly after Teia Miles had reduced the deficit to four points early in the final term.
The Hawks grabbed the lead through goals to Matthew Traynor, the 23rd man, and rookie Kade Stewart to steer them to victory and claim the Anzac Cup.
"They put up a massive fight and they just won the clearances and the hard ball and the tackles … you just have to grind wins away and today was a grind," Hawks skipper David Mirra said.
In other matches, Port Melbourne withstood a gritty Northern Blues by 19 points, Matthew Kreymborg led Sandringham to a 28-point win over Footscray with four goals and, on Friday night, Geelong belted North Ballarat by 74 points.
