Saints 7-0 hammering of Camden Haven on Saturday could kick-start their stuttering 2018 Football Mid North Coast Premier League campaign.

They led 3-0 at half-time and went on with the job in the second half to climb off the bottom of the table and relegate Wauchope back to the cellar.

Redbacks coach Billy Roe admitted his team simply couldn’t cope with Saints pace up front.

“We didn’t really get going,” he said.

“The few early goals we conceded killed us off and then we were chasing the game.

“Going behind, I don’t think we could deal with their pace up front. They roasted us.”

Saints clinical performance saw them move to within six points of the top five, although Port United and Taree Wildcats have a rescheduled match to play in coming weeks.

Roe admitted Saints performance came as a surprise as his side had pencilled in the match as one they could have taken points from.

“We’ve been looking at results and we looked at them as a beatable side and maybe they’re not on that performance,” he said.

“They took their chances, have some real speed up top and burned us a few times.

“Their finishing was pretty clinical as the scoreline read and their other results don’t make a lot of sense.

“Their position on the table doesn’t belie their qualities.”

Roe admitted his side lacked some resilience when the scoreline started to snowball.

“We’re a bit disappointed in our late second half – where we didn’t give up – but I did say we didn’t want the scoreline getting silly and we had to dig deep.”

The Redbacks coach admitted Saints’ performance was ruthless.

“It was their day from the first goal to the last,” he said.

“They didn’t take their foot off the gas which I thought was credit to them.”