The ladies in green stunned the Jaguars on their home paddock, overcoming a 1-0 deficit to notch a thrilling 2-1 win against the odds.

Junee started well with a long distance goal from Ash Goode in the 3^rd minute but South Wagga did well to work back into the game and stop the Jaguars from building momentum.

Both teams produced an attacking brand of football with Junee managing 11 first half shots on goal to the Warriors’ four.

However, it was South Wagga who made the breakthrough in the 40^th minute, netting an equaliser to level things up 1-all at the main break.

The second half saw both sides tire considerably with only nine shots on goal in total but the Warriors again made theirs count, scoring the eventual match winner in the 56^th minute to sink the ladder-leading Jaguars at their Burns Park fortress.

A satisfied Merlino believes his side wouldn’t have even conceded a goal had his entire squad been available.

“I’d be confident in saying we probably would have stopped their early goal if we had 11 players on the paddock to begin with,” Merlino said.

The result sees South Wagga put even more pressure on third-placed Tolland and Merlino wants his charges to recreate their Junee form when they clash with the Wolves on Sunday.

“If we beat Tolland, we’re back up to third … and that’s where we want to be,” Merlino said.

Junee coach Craig Duncan conceded his team were beaten by a “more enthusiastic” South Wagga outfit and said improvements would be made before they take on Lake Albert on Sunday.

“(We) kept pressing and were unlucky on a couple of occasions not to pull the game out of the fire, but it wasn’t to be,” Duncan said.

“The team will be working towards getting back to a better level this week.”

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