BUFFALO ruckman David Paull is confident his side has turned the corner after a morale boosting win over NTFL rivals St Mary’s on Saturday.

The Buffaloes withstood a series of thrusts from their rivals to record an 11-point win and snap a two-game losing streak.

“Both sides really turned up for the game which meant the intensity was pretty high around the ball all game,’’ Paull told the NT News.

“It was pretty tough out there, certainly everyone on our side was puffed out after the match after we really gave everything we had.

“Coming off a couple of losses, we needed to build the momentum back up and we knew we could do it, we just needed to gel together a bit more.’’

But Paull said the game was never over until an Arnold Punch goal late in the final term sealed the win.

“Saints never let up, but that’s their mentality, they don’t stop at the end of the first quarter or the first half, they sort of roll through and keep punching,’’ he added.

“That’s when (Nathaniel) Paredes and those sort of players step up and away they go.’’

The Buffaloes were without key position players Joe Anderson and Darren Shillabeer and hard running defender Tim Eldridge is out for the season with a back injury.

But Paull pointed to Ryan O’Sullivan’s strong work in defence, joint skipper Jarrod Stokes leading from the front and playing coach Matt Campbell’s ability to play well every week as big plusses on the night.

“And Damien Williams did very well down back after only just coming back into the side, so the confidence in the players is definitely there, we’ve just got to maintain our momentum.’’