Hastings Valley fullback Jakob Haines kept calm under pressure to land a sideline conversion after full-time to hand the Vikings a 33-31 triumph over Southern Cross University Marlins on Saturday.
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The victory ended a three-game winless start to the season for the Mid North Coast Rugby northern division defending premiers.
It also saw the Vikings equal the same amount of points in one game they had scored in their opening three with coach Lyndon Gale leading the way.
Captain Charlie Freeman said Gale was "enormous".
"He scored at least two tries and when the chips were down he put his hand up and put the team on his back," Freeman said.
The Vikings went back to basics after a horror start to their campaign that saw them defeated by Port Macquarie (31-26), Coffs Harbour (78-7) and Kempsey (36-0) before a last-round bye.
The week off could have been just what they needed.
"It could definitely be a turning point for us," Freeman said.
"It's those really tight wins where you have to grind it out that actually builds character so I think that will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season."
Hastings Valley were more composed and patient with the ball, especially in the second-half after they trailed 17-7 at the break.
Freeman acknowledged their composure in the second 40 minutes was integral to the win and it was a more cohesive performance.
"Our strengths are always building phases and pressuring the opposition and in previous weeks we were a bit hasty trying to get through phases," he said.
"This time we slowed it down a bit and built pressure. It paid off with tries.
"It wasn't our prettiest win, but when we gave away a bit we were able to talk about what we needed to do to fix it and we responded."
Marlins captain AJ Gilbert lamented their inability to put the Vikings away when they had the opportunity, especially in the first half.
They then started the second half slowly and the hosts made their move.
"We didn't match their intensity in the second half. We still had our opportunities to win a couple of times, but we just weren't good enough. Heartbreaking, absolutely," Gilbert said.
Gilbert felt the Vikings could still be a contender for this year's competition.
"They've obviously had a bit of a turnover with players, but it's in the Vikings DNA... their forwards were strong, their halves controlled the game well and they closed out the game," he said.
"As much as everyone talks about the players they've lost and things like that, the Vikings DNA is still there and they can still win games for sure."
The Vikings also claimed victories in reserve grade (55-5), women's (30-24) and under-18s (19-5) while they were defeated in the under-16s (37-0) and under-14s (31-5).
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