ANNA Gleeson has been playing State Cup touch football since she was 20.
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But the representative star had never won a State Cup until she steered the Port Macquarie Makos under-10 girls to the northern conference title on Sunday.
Tilly Sinclair's two-try effort helped the association secure its first NSW Junior State Cup title since 2002 with a 5-4 win over Manly.
It wasn't without some drama with the officials appearing to have missed a forward pass that led to a Sea Eagles try with less than a minute left on the clock.
That was until the touch judge ruled in Port Macquarie's favour.
"That gave me a heart attack; you could see it a mile away," Gleeson said.
"But you just don't know, you've got to go with what the referee says and we were lucky the touch judge saw it.
"We then had to hold onto the ball for the final set of six and we knew it was ours."
Gleeson was thrilled to have coached the side to the title after they only lost one game all tournament.
That match was a 3-2 defeat to Manly earlier in the weekend.
"Manly are the club that everyone knows is the best," the Makos coach said.
"We lost to them in our round game and talked about our defence and how we were going to stop their tries and our wingers played out of their skin.
"That's what won it for us.
"To coach a team of young girls that have been amazing, coachable, enthusiastic and to have my own daughter in the team is pretty special."
Gleeson said every player contributed to the success, but saved special mention for Maddie West and Tilly Sinclair.
Sinclair was judged player of the match.
"Maddie West has got an amazing speed, Tilly Sinclair is young and she has another year in the under-10s and Darcie and Claire have the experience.
"They got the girls going forward; they're just a team of superstars and ones to watch."
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