Those at Orange on Saturday night were treated to a scintillating show of attacking football but that mattered little to Macquarie coach Paul Crain after the final whistle as his side suffered defeat in the 13-goal thriller.

Waratahs ran out 8-5 winners, the result marking their first victory since entering the WPL this season.

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For Macquarie, who trailed 5-1 at half-time, it was a hugely disappointing result after a strong round one win over Dubbo FC.

"The reality is that we were poor in the first half tonight," coach Paul Crain said after his side was torn apart early on.

"We got the result we deserved. We showed we can match it with them for a half, but you've got to play two.

"We're still missing four players from our main side, we'll get those defensive players back next week and we'll go again."

A delightful chip from Tahs' Ryan Sinclair opened the scoring inside five minutes before Macquarie levelled in stunning fashion.

In one of a number of outstanding strikes on the night, Rhys Osbourne took an ambitious strike from 30 metres out but a risk that paid off deluxe.

From there though the hosts took control and Craig Sugden struck a lovely free kick into the top corner to give his side the advantage.

The goals may have flowed from then on but Tahs never gave up the lead and claimed victory in the highest-scoring match played since the competition was restarted last year.

"I practiced about half a dozen of those at training and they all ended up in the paddock," Sugden said of his free-kick.

"I was pretty happy with it... that was only my second touch of the game."

Macquarie returns home next weekend to take on another competition newcomer, the Mudgee Gulgong Wolves, while Waratahs will look to build on their first win when they host Lithgow.

"We need to compose ourselves and make the right decisions... we lost our heads a couple of times," Sugden said.

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