THE Bears Lagoon-Serpentine theme was sung loudly and proudly in the minutes after the sound of the final siren in Saturday's LVFNL football match at Inglewood.
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But it wasn't the Bears' footballers first win of the season that spurred such a rousing rendition.
Front and centre were the club's A-grade netballers, who about 40 minutes earlier had shattered a five-year win drought.
They did it in emphatic style, beating Inglewood 67-21.
Capping a banner day for the Bears netballers, they scored wins in all grades of netball, except for 13-and-under.
The Bears' A-grade victory was their first since they defeated Pyramid Hill 38-24 in round 15 of the 2009 season.
The Bears, coached that year by Sally Sheahan, finished the season in sixth place with a 5-11 record.
While one win certainly does not make a season, a stirring triumph is sure to give the Bears impetus for the weeks and months ahead.
First year coach Danielle O'Toole said the win brought plenty of emotions, among them relief, excitement and sheer jubilation.
"It has been a long time coming, but finally. The girls played awesome. They kept their cool the whole game and came home with a massive win," she said.
"They had us in the football huddle and everything.
"It was amazing. We're all just so happy to have finally won one."
O'Toole, who crossed to Bears Lagoon-Serpentine from rival club Marong in the off-season, admitted being confident the drought might be broken on Saturday following a gutsy effort by her players in a 60-45 loss the previous weekend against Pyramid Hill.
"I was very happy with last week - I think they will be a top two side, Pyramid," she said.
"To only go down by that margin, it was definitely something to learn from and build on.
"We spoke all week about getting a good start, which we did, and from there we just kept going.
"There weren't many (player) changes throughout the game - we just went for it. Everyone played great and did their bit.
"While I was quietly confident after last week, you can't really have that attitude, you still have to do it."
The girls played awesome. They kept their cool the whole game and came home with a massive win
- Bears coach Danielle O'Toole
Making good on their pledge to get a strong start, the Bears led 15-8 at quarter time before they broke the game wide open with a 19-5 second quarter.
At the same time restricting the flow of goals at the Blues' end of the court, they added 17 goals in the third quarter and 16 in the last to put the seal on a euphoric occasion.
Their tally of 67 goals was the first time the Bears had exceeded 50 goals in a match since round 15 of the 2017 season, when they defeated the Blues 65-35.
Their highest score last season was 39 against Pyramid Hill in round two - a total they have eclipsed in both of their matches this year.
From their last win in 2019, only wing defence Ellen Gladman (nee McRae) and 2015 league medallist Sarah Perry, who came off the bench to play one quarter, were a part of Saturday's triumph.
A brilliant win was led by Lara Clements at goal keeper and young goal shooter Ava Francis, who was part of last season's 17-and-under team, which finished runners-up to Bridgewater.
"It was good to see the girls didn't relax at any stage. We made a couple of changes in the last quarter, but it was all about expanding on the lead," said O'Toole, who praised the buy-in of her players to the new game plan.
"It's vindicated the move here, but we still have a long way to go. We need to get more wins, but that's a good start.
"We've put in a lot of court structures this year that no one here has ever been a part of, so we'll just try and keep improving on them.
"I'm really happy with the team we have, we just need to keep being efficient and confident."
The Bears will look to bring their new-found confidence into next weekend's clash against Newbridge, which dropped to 1-1 following a two-goal loss against Marong at Riverside Park.
The Panthers rebounded from an opening round loss to Mitiamo, claiming a 37-35 victory after leading at every change, including by six goals at half time and three at the final change of ends.
Bridgewater also bounced back from a round one defeat to beat reigning premiers Maiden Gully YCW at Marist College.
The Mean Machine won 53-34.
At Mitchell Park, Pyramid Hill defeated Calivil United 50-11.
Round 3: Marong v Pyramid Hill; Mitiamo v Maiden Gully YCW; Bears Lagoon-Serpentine v Newbridge; Bridgewater v Inglewood.
