Dougie MacDuff says securing his first three points as Irvine Vics boss felt like winning the league.
A 3-1 success at home to Johnstone Burgh on Saturday ended MacDuff's wait for a victory at the 14th time of asking.
Shane Jackson's second-half double did the damage in the West of Scotland League Conference A clash after the visitors cancelled out Sean Cryans' early opener in quick fashion.
And delighted MacDuff, who stepped into the hot seat at the end of June, admits emotions ran high at full-time as Vics finally gave their long suffering supporters something to cheer.
He said: "There was relief because we've got that monkey off our back but the feeling was more like we'd won the league.
"The boys were absolutely ecstatic and rightly so. It's been a long three months and they've worked ever so hard.
"The supporters cheered them off the park and that was fantastic to see because they've been behind us from day one."
MacDuff insists he never lost faith in his players despite a run of disastrous results that saw them take just one point from a possible 39.
He said: "I knew a win was coming.
"I've been saying it for weeks, but we've really not got a bad team here.
"If I didn't think there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel I'd have been in absolute despair by now, believe me.
"That was never the case, though. I just felt we needed a few breaks to go our way.
"There were moments against Johnstone where we rode our luck but on the whole I thought we outfought them and played some really good football.
"We were defending for our lives at the end, it was backs-to-the-wall stuff but we saw it out which is something we hadn't managed to do this season.
"We've got to take confidence from that going forward. From here on in, it's all about progression."
Vics host high flying WoSFL Premier Division cracks Pollok in the second round of the Scottish Junior Cup this Saturday.
And MacDuff admitted: "Ideally we'd have liked another league game to try and build a bit of momentum.
"But listen, we're not expected to get a result against Pollok, so the boys just need to go out there, do their best, and savour the experience of playing a top team at this level.
"If anything, it's a chance for a few of our lads to put themselves in the shop window with a good performance."
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