Ainslie midfielder Ian Lawless was given the greatest gift of all with the birth of his second child on Friday.
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Twenty hours later, there were also positive signs for his footy club as several impressive youngsters continued their development in the North East Australian Football League.
After missing last week's trip to Brisbane, Lawless returned to the Tri-Colours for Saturday's 38-point loss to the highly-rated Aspley Hornets at Alan Ray Oval.
Ian's wife Naomi gave birth to the couple's second baby boy - who they haven't named yet - on Friday to become a younger brother to three-and-a-half-year-old Miles.
It's not the first time Lawless has sat out a game to become a father - Miles was born on the same day Ainslie took on West Perth in Sydney in the Foxtel Cup in 2012.
"It crossed my mind to miss today's game, but I missed last week because I thought it might happen last weekend," he said.
"The boys were going to Queensland so I missed that trip and I didn't want to miss two in a row.
"It all worked out smoothly - healthy bub and healthy mum."
The Tri-Colours led at the first change, but were outscored 11 goals to two in the second and third quarters before adding some respectability to the scoreboard in the home stretch.
It's been a difficult campaign for the Tri-Colours, who are now 5-11 for the season ahead of next week's final fixture against the Gold Coast Suns.
"We've got a lot of young boys in and it's good to get some exposure into those guys and see what it takes to play NEAFL footy," Lawless said.
"We've been hit by injuries, so they've had the chance to come up and have a crack and they've done pretty well.
"We've been good in patches, but it's about trying to string it together for four quarters."
Meanwhile, Eastlake were no match for the Gold Coast Suns Reserves, going down by 85 points at Metricon Stadium.
In the AFL Canberra first-grade competition, the Tuggeranong Hawks celebrated Jay Kickett's club record 234th game with a thrilling one-point win against Ainslie.
The Hawks overcame some wayward goal-kicking to scrape home 8.22 (70) to Ainslie's 10.9 (69).
In other games, the Belconnen Magpies hammered the Gungahlin Jets by 164 points and the Queanbeyan Tigers were just as impressive against Eastlake in a 161-point romp.
NEAFL: Aspley 16.9 (105) bt Ainslie 10.7 (67) at Alan Ray Oval. Gold Coast Suns 17.22 (124) bt Eastlake 5.9 (39) at Metricon Stadium.
AFL Canberra first grade: Queanbeyan Tigers 27.19 (181) bt Eastlake Demons 3.2 (20) at Allinsure Park. Belconnen Magpies 28.20 (188) bt Gungahlin Jets 3.6 (24) at Holt 301. Tuggeranong Hawks 8.22 (70) bt Ainslie 10.9 (69) at Alan Ray Oval.
