Waratahs coach Matt Wilson was full of praise for his sides effort in sweltering conditions after they conjured a late equaliser to snatch a share of the points in their clash with Tudor Wests on Sunday.
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With around five minutes to play Tudors looked headed for their second win after Sarah Willis had given them the early advantage.
But Waratahs (also opening round winners) had other ideas and struck to tie the scores up at 1-all.
Wilson said it was an "absolutely outstanding" effort from his side.
"The effort they put in under stifling conditions, I couldn't fault it," he said.
"They ran very hard all day and defended well under some very trying conditions."
He said it would have been easy for them given the circumstances (they were also missing captain Katrina Rekunow and Hayley Lennon) to put their heads down when Willis put Tudors ahead 1-nil after only five minutes.
"But they worked very hard the whole game and got the reward at the end," Wilson said.
Tudors' Helen Willis, while disappointed to concede that late goal, was also happy with what she saw from her side.
"We've obviously got some good bones to build on," she said.
She thought it was a pretty even game across the park for most of the contest.
"We had a few chances that we missed," she said.
"That's just experience I think. We still had a couple of young players up front."
She was particularly happy from a defensive perspective.
"We've got a completely new defensive line-up this year," she said.
"We've moved girls who used to be attackers into defence. They're starting to work out how to play."
Moved back into the "hotline role" in defence after playing a striker for the last few years, Tessa Mitchell was their players player. Nat Willis stepping up from second grade has also been developing well in the central defensive role, Willis said.
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Earlier Flames edged out Services 2-1 to notch their first win of the season.
"It was pleasing to get that win," coach Barrie Pritchard said.
He thought they hadn't played that badly in their 2-1 loss to Waratahs the previous week. They created a lot of chances but their trapping and goalscoring were "dreadful".
On Sunday Annelise Frear put them up 1-nil midway through the first half, knocking the ball in after a great run down the left from Kimmy Resch. Despite creating a couple of good opportunities after that it remained 1-nil at the break.
"It was a pretty good first half," Pritchard said.
"Having Kim Resch and Ash Allen back made a huge difference to our midfield."
They looked a much different side with those two combining with Naomi Spark in the middle.
Resch was again involved as they went 2-nil up with around 15 minutes remaining. But Services hit back a few minutes later to make it 2-1.
"That put us under the gun for the last 10 minutes," Pritchard said.
But their defence rose to the occasion.
Pritchard said Sarah Overeem stepping in at fullback had a really good game. Bek May and Brydie Welham at outside defence were also very solid.
