The Central Australia Redtails are celebrating a win in their first-ever NTFL game against Saint Marys in Alice Springs.
The Redtails gave Saint Marys a 22-point lead going into the last quarter but chased them down to win by four points.
Redtails coach Shaun Cusack praised his key position players, including a standout from Nightcliff's grand final run last season.
"Daniel Stafford's done fantastically well up at full forward," he said.
Cusack estimates there were more than 1,500 people in the crowd at Traeger Park in Alice Springs.
"It feels like an actual grand final," he said.
"That's the type of feeling it was, a lot of emotion and a lot of pride and a lot of respect."
Cusack says his players are slightly built compared with Saint Marys' players and they will have to rely on a strong running game to compete against more muscular Top End players during their four remaining trial games.
The other NTFL expansion club, Banks, almost completed its own upset at Darwin's Gardens Oval, storming home against Waratah to lose by just seven points.
Last year's wooden-spooners, Buffaloes, put in a strong effort at Palmerston in their first game since announcing their relocation, but went down to the Magpies by 19 points.
Tags: australian-football-league, alice-springs-0870, darwin-0800 First posted October 08, 2012 12:20:19