SOUTHEND Saints surged to a 46-12 win against Westcliff Lionesses at Warners Bridge.

The victory was Southend's first ever against their local rivals.

And skipper Cat Malcolm was full of praise for the impressive performance.

"Sunday could not have gone better for the Saints," said Malcolm.

"A first ever win against Westcliff, at home, surrounded by our incredible friends, family and supporters.

"I have never felt so proud of our team, what a day, and one we will never forget."

Southend are now fourth in the Women's NC 2 South East (East) standings, with games in hand on all the sides above them.

And Malcolm is pleased to see the side getting the rewards for all their hard work.

"We train hard every single week, we arrive early and get extras done before the training session begins whether it’s scrum work or kicking," said the fly-half.

"We all have our areas we want to continue to work on and develop.

"We must be causing trouble for the coaches because it has got to the stage where our numbers have grown so much that each player is fighting hard for that shirt number.

"We all want to play we all want to make the starting team so there is a lot of healthy competition going on which I think is great.

"We are incomparable to last season, I cannot believe how much we have improved and how much we have grown in confidence."

Mary Otasowie scored a hat-trick of tries in Southend's win while Amy Rogers, Keshia Evans, Kelly Brown and Shelby Gilson also touched down along with Malcolm who now wants to keep the good run going during a key period in the season.

"We are on a really fantastic and exciting run at the moment but the next few games are going to be tough," said Malcolm.

"We play Aylesford on Sunday who beat us in a friendly last year but I feel we are more prepared and in a far stronger position this time around.

"February is going to be tough as we have no rest weeks. We have some big challenges to face, one of them being Thurrock who have also been putting a lot of points on the board each week.

"But these are the games we especially look forward to as we learn so much.

"We need to continue to play our way, the Saints way and no one else’s.

"We have our game plan, we know our strengths, stick to what we do best and I have zero doubts against any team in this league."

As a result, Malcolm is also convinced Southend could go up this season.

"After this weekend's performance, promotion is definitely on the cards,” said Malcolm.

“I think it’s taken a win like Sunday for us to realise that we could actually do this.

“The fact I’m even saying this blows my mind because we have built something so special from virtually nothing.

“We have gone from scraping numbers together for five aside touch rugby to 30 plus girls showing up every week.

“But whatever the outcome it will never change the fact that I could not be prouder of the Saints.

“Every single player and coach have given this club and team their all.

“Times are exciting and it is only going to get better.”

And those sentiments were echoed by Southend coach Paul Bach.

“This was our best performance in terms of putting pressure on our opponents from the start and not letting them gain any momentum,” said Bach.

“We remained physical and switched on, keeping a good tempo.

“I was immensely proud of every one of the squad and they have worked really hard for this.

“The coaches push hard each week.

“We have good numbers at training, and our progress is great.

“Players understand their roles and are able to adapt to situations accordingly.”

But Bach is now setting his sights on Sunday’s clash with leaders Aylesford Bulls.

“This next weekend is now our biggest game to date,” said Bach.

“We need to carry the momentum into our game at Aylesford, they are a strong team who continue to improve each season.

“We still have some big games to come and if we can continue to be consistent then I believe we can win this league and get promotion, which will be a fantastic achievement for the club.”