It was a very Good Friday for Castlemaine.
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After 1462 days without a victory, Castlemaine is back in the winner's circle after defeating Maryborough by 50 points at Princes Park, final scores 21.12 (136) to 12.14 (86).
Castlemaine coach Don Moran said the win was "testament" to the dedicated players that had stuck with the club during the past three years.
"We hadn't been harping on negativity and have just been trying to keep the momentum alive to make sure we do the right thing," he said.
"The win today was well-deserved and testament to the fellas that stuck fat with the club during the past few seasons and for our recruits that have come back to the club.
"It's just awesome."
Trailing by three points at quarter time, the game was open for either of the teams to fly away with a win.
Maryborough started to take control of its home turf with 13-point lead into half time, 8.10 (58) over 7.3 (45), but Castlemaine was able to come up with a sturdy response during the break.
Moran said he asked the team to dig deep in order to deliver a strong second half.
"Before the match we talked about playing beyond the structures," he said.
"At the end of the day their actions had to outweigh their words, that was the message we pushed all day.
"And in the second half it was time to put into action what we had been preparing for during the last couple of years.
"They needed to put their foot down and just keep piling on the goals which they were able to do."
Castlemaine opened up the second half of the match by kicking the first five goals of the third quarter to break away to an 11-point lead going into the final term.
There was no stopping Castlemaine as they booted eight goals in the last quarter to seal the deal.
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For the club's fans who weren't at the match, no doubt they could hear their theme song echo loud and clear from Princes Park back across the goldfields to Camp Reserve.
Castlemaine's best on ground were Callum McConachy, Tommy Horne, Brendan Josey, Bailey Henderson, Kaleb Mcbride and Tyson Hickey.
Jack Chester booted seven goals, followed by Brodie Byrne, Henderson and McConachy on three each.
Moran praised his players across the entire ground for a full-team effort.
"Seriously, everyone did their job," he said.
"There was one fella from Maryborough that popped up, number seven (Chris Freeman), who was becoming a bit dangerous so I gave him to Tyson Hickey and he did a great job on him.
"We got McConachy to run with Maryborough's Coby Perry and he totally nullified his opponent who ended up having no influence on the game.
"A really outstanding job from him given the quality player that Coby is."
Maryborough's best on ground were Aidan Hare, Brady Neill, Lachie Butler, Lachlan Hull, Liam Murphy and Liam Latch.
Lachie Butler, Chris Freeman and Patrick Van der pol led goalkicking with two each.
Castlemaine will hop on the Calder next Saturday and head south to Gisborne to take on the Bulldogs at Gardiner Reserve.
Meanwhile, Maryborough heads north to Wade Street for a clash with Golden Square.
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