IT was believed to be the first time CSU had taken out the Bathurst District Football Association women’s first grade title when they won on Saturday night, and while that wasn’t the case, there was still cause for celebration.

The 2014 edition of the side still managed to break a lengthy drought, claiming CSU’s first grand final win since 1999 thanks to a 2-1 win over Orange Ex-Services on Saturday night at Proctor Park.

An even and nervy first half gave way to plenty of action in the second as two own-goals had both sides scratching their heads. Eventually it was the students who proved too strong.

“We thought going into the game that no CSU side had ever won it before in first grade,” CSU player-coach Daisy Morrissey said.

“When we got the trophy though we had a look and we had actually won it back in 1999. It has still been a very long time for us though, and it was great to finally get another one.”

In the opening 45 minutes possession and territory were evenly shared as the two teams tried to sort each other out a fortnight after CSU had prevailed 1-0 in the major semi-final.

Not a lot of clear-cut or even half-chances were created, but even given the close nature of the contest, there was still a feeling that something out of the ordinary was around the corner in order to separate them.

Finally not long after play resumed in the second half, a well-rehearsed move from the students led to Amanda Marks scoring her team’s first.

Unfortunately for CSU, the joy didn’t last long.

“The goal came from a play that we’ve worked hard on at training, basically we look to take it to the back corner as quick as we can and turn it back in with a long cross, and it worked perfectly this time,” Morrissey said.

“We were pretty excited and a bit overwhelmed at that stage and probably lost a bit of concentration, maybe we even got over confident.

“A ball went back, our ‘keeper was standing up and behind our centre back, and there was a bit of a miss-hit with a clearing kick and it went up and over the goalie and bounced back into the net.

“It was a bit strange and even Ex-Services didn’t seem to really know what had happened or how it had happened initially.”

Fortunately for Morrissey and her team-mates, they were able to gather their composure and get back on the front foot.

It paid off for them with around 12 minutes to play, though again it wasn’t from an expected source as a similar error from the Orange side gave CSU a 2-1 lead.

An attempted clearance after a hotly disputed ball in front of the Ex-Services goal resulted in a miscue that went straight into the net. 

It was enough for CSU to drop an extra player into defence and hold on to their lead until full-time.

“It was a fantastic feeling to get that trophy,” the coach said.

“We had some very good players all over the field, Fran van Blerk was outstanding in goals, Madi Mathie was another one on the wing who was sensational.

“The best thing is that we are likely to keep almost the entire side for next year. At this stage it looks like only one will be moving on, so we’d love to come back and defend the title.”

CSU 2 (own goal, Amanda Marks) defeated ORANGE EX-SERVICES 1 (own goal)