Nick O'Connor hadn't even picked up a hockey stick last time South United won the Tamworth men's first grade premiership.
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On Sunday he fired them to their first title in 15 years, the teenager's final quarter strike proving the difference as they beat Kiwi Diggers 2-1 to claim the silverware.
It was the culmination of three years of building under the guidance of captain-coach Sam Clifton.
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Last year they just fell short. After finishing minor premiers they were hammered by Workies in the grand final.
This year they were in a similar position, topping the table after the regular season, but were Clifton said "a little bit older and a little bit smarter".
"We went through this season undefeated and we only drew one game so it just shows how dominant we probably were across the year," he said.
"So I'm just glad we got the job done today, and the rewards are worth it."
They were made to work for it though with Kiwis taking it to them.
In what was, as the scoreline suggests, a tight tussle, neither side was able to find the net in the first half. They then went into the final quarter locked at 1-all after Jarrod McCluand had put Souths ahead from a well-worked corner play only for Kiwis to go straight up the other end and hit back through Chris Taggart.
The runaway leading goalscorer for the year O'Connor then swooped on the rebound from a corner to put Souths ahead again early in the final quarter.
Earlier Waratahs upset Flames for the second year in-a-row to claim back-to-back titles for the second time in the club's history.
In what was a pulsating contest, and not to dissimilar to last year, Waratahs produced a tenacious and gritty effort to win 5-4.
Down 2-1 at quarter time, the premiers dominated the second quarter to go into half-time up 3-2.
Nicole Reidsmith then made it 4-2 early in the third quarter, but Flames fired back to level the scores at 4-all going into the final quarter.
Hayley Lennon's third penalty corner of the match put Waratahs up 5-4 with 12 minutes to play, and they held on from there.
Waratahs coach Matt Wilson was delighted by his sides performance, telling them after the match that was the hockey he'd wanted them to play all season.
They weren't intimidated by the speed and ability that Flames have got, and were able to stick to their game plan and play their pace of hockey.
