St Arnaud has ended a 25-game winless run with a 43-point victory over Charlton at Lord Nelson Park.
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The Saints' last win came in round 13, 2022, also against Charlton, when they won a dour contest by 37 points.
It concluded the perfect day for the Saints, with all four of their football teams winning ahead of their Annual Ball.
It was Saints coach Scott Driscoll's first win in charge, and he told the Bendigo Advertiser he couldn't be prouder of his charges.
"It was actually pretty emotional in the rooms afterwards," Driscoll said.
"A fair few guys were rubbing their eyes and taking in the moment, so it was a special day.
"The rooms were packed after the game, and we represent the community every time we pull on the jumper, so it was great to get the win for the supporters.
![St Arnaud's Owen Lowe in action earlier in the season. Picture by Blake Lee St Arnaud's Owen Lowe in action earlier in the season. Picture by Blake Lee](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/210363923/d653b873-d903-410e-802e-595669247925.jpg/r1224_848_4375_2593_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I'm proud of how the boys played for four quarters, stayed composed and finished the job.
"We were up by 26 points at three-quarter-time, but we kept going and didn't go into our shells, which was really pleasing."
In a tight opening, Charlton took a two-point lead into quarter time, but from that point, the Saints controlled the contest.
Bailey Durward kicked three, while Mitch Egan and Zac Phillips were also amongst the best.
"Bailey (Durward) has gone forward recently, and he kicked three on Saturday, but his impact from his pressure was just as important," Driscoll said.
"Jake Male has gone the other way and moved to full back after starting the year at full forward.
"Since moving to defence, he's been coming on leaps and bounds."
It was a great response from the Saints after they were trounced by defending premiers Sea Lake-Nandaly by 119 points last time out.
Driscoll is confident that this win will mark the start of a massive step forward in the second half of the campaign.
"I think for the group that has brought in, put in the hard yards and ridden the wave, they've had belief in what we're doing, but Saturday instilled that belief even more," Driscoll said.
"It showed we are on the right track and our best footy is good enough, especially after a very disappointing performance the week before, so I put it on the boys in the lead up if they're serious about what we're doing we had to rock up on Saturday and perform."
DONALD VS BOORT
A second draw in as many weeks in the NCFL.
After round sevens thriller between Wedderburn and Birchip-Watchem it was Donald and Boort's turn to split the points.
It was a performance Boort coach Dale Cameron thought should have ended with the four points if not for their poor kicking of 10.13 (73) to 11.7 (73).
But simultaneously, it could have been a second close loss on the trot after last Saturday's nine-point defeat to Nullawil.
The Magpies had the early running of the final term, opening up a ten-point buffer with five minutes remaining after trailing by a kick at the last change.
A Donald goal from stoppage and some peppering of the sticks brought the scores level before the Magpies held on with the ball in their defensive 50 for the last two minutes of the game.
"It was the one that got away from us but also had to fight hard to survive," said Magpies coach Dale Cameron in the aftermath.
"We let it slip with a bit of inexperience in our back half with five minutes to go.
"But we'll take a lot of lessons from it, and we're only a game and a half from third spot, so we're very close to putting it all together.
"We're gaining momentum, and I've set it up for us to have a better back half of the year, so fingers crossed we can put it all together."
The Magpies were also depleted coming into the match after a virus swept through the club during the week.
Meanwhile, Nullawil recorded an important victory against Wedderburn by 28 points in Travis Cloke's first game for the club.
Ladder leaders Birchip-Watchem outlasted Wycheproof-Narraport 13.13 (91) to 9.6 (60) with an impressive second half.