West Canberra Wanderers were within arm's length of breaking their National Premier League winless streak but came just short in the test against newly-promoted O'Connor Knights on Saturday.
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For O'Connor Knights assistant coach Nick Tither, securing the three points was the most important thing.
"The performance was the second piece; it was about making sure we got some momentum back into our season after a tough last two to three weeks," Tither said after the 4-3 win.
"Delighted with the three points."
The Wanderers kept O'Connor on their toes on home soil in a seven-goal thriller.
Following a scoreless first 30 minutes, O'Connor whilst lacking with meaningful possession were pressing West Canberra well and creating chances from counter attacks.
O'Connor's Edward Coggan pressed the Wanderers backline forcing a mistake, then carrying the ball into the 18-yard box, finishing the solo effort into the bottom left-hand corner in the 33rd minute.
Just before the half-time whistle was blown, West Canberra's possession provided the breakthrough as Blaise Vlazlovski scored a well-placed ball to see themselves on the board.
"Very disappointing time to concede a goal just before half-time," Tither said.
"At half-time we focused on where we thought we could hurt them, which was through early balls into the opposition area and focus our forward play in and around their fullbacks."
In the 55th minute O'Connor scored a second with a free kick hit sweetly by Liam Walsh that took a deflection off the defensive wall leaving the Wanderers' keeper stranded and unable to make the save.
O'Connor scored their third goal in the 59th minute with Coggan scoring his second of the match after an assist by Michael Adams provided the through ball.
Just a minute after, West Canberra struck back quickly with Beau Henry following up on a rebounded shot from Jackson Paesler to ensure the ball reached the back of the net.
O'Connor doubled their lead when Mynott-Smith cut the ball back to an unmarked Patrick O'Rourke in the 65th minute.
West Canberra managed to find the back of the net one last time with Jenno Ceruti cracking a shot that hit the post but was followed up by Lachlan Fields to make the final score 4-3.
After countless lost opportunities with targets on goal, frustration was rising for the Wanderers as a result in their lacking ability to finish.
"If you don't actually put the ball in the back of the net, then you can't win the game," West Canberra coach Dom English said.
"We lacked clinical finishing."
Knights coach Tither hopes for a defensive improvement in the coming games after a less than ideal last few weeks with the absence of wins.
"We aren't happy yet and there's still a lot more to come from us," he said.
Going forward, English believes there is still time to flip the script for West Canberra.
"There's definitely some teams we are confident we can take points off in the rest of the season," he said.
"This competition is a long way from done, we will continue to be super competitive in the games ahead."