The Saints stormed home in the second half after a plucky Magpies outfit had challenged them in the first half.

They kicked nine goals to four after the main break to register a comfortable 17.11 (113) to 11.6 (72) victory.

Magpies president Craig Dicker lamented another match where they couldn’t continue their first-half efforts into the second stanza.

“We played good in the first half and in the second half we struggled a little bit and it blew out, that’s for sure,” he said.

“We dropped off a bit and the boys stopped talking and once that chat goes down everything else seems to drop away.

“Sawtell to their credit got a bit of momentum and kicked some pretty good goals.”

Dicker remained confident the Magpies could still make some noise in this year’s finals series despite the 41-point defeat.

“We’re pretty evenly matched; there’s no massive difference between our two sides, it just comes down to playing a consistent four-quarter effort,” he said.

He still felt it was a three-way race for the premiership between themselves, Sawtell and Coffs Harbour.

“We’re confident enough that we know if we play four quarters of good footy we’re good enough to beat anyone,” he said.

“We’ve got a good side, it’s just a matter of everything coming together and getting over the line.”

Sam Johnson kicked five goals, but it was the performance of Kye Wilson in the ruck that was most impressive.

“It wasn’t just his ruck work but his second and third efforts around the ground where he was fighting hard for the footy,” Dicker said.

“He was really impressive, he’s got a big future ahead of him.”