Baker played a half in the Magpies’ 39-37 loss to South Warrnambool at Friendly Societies’ Park – some 14 months after breaking her foot against the same Hampden league opponent.

The veteran, whose daughters Chelsea and Krystal also play in the open side, had feared the injury could cost her career.

Magpies coach Sharon Kenna said Baker made an impact playing at wing attack in the second half.

“She’s been playing div one but it was her first A grade game back which was fantastic,” she said.

“She’s been itching to get back so we said ‘have a run in the div ones and see how you feel’.

“Today I watched her play div one and I went up and said ‘I think you can sit on our bench today’.

“It is a great comeback. She still has plates in her foot.”

“They played smart in the first five minutes and we didn’t and we didn’t adjust as well as they did.

“After that I think we settled into the game and the changes at half-time really worked for us.

South Warrnambool drew level on premiership points with Camperdown following the win. The Roosters sit sixth on percentage with four rounds to play.

Kenna conceded it was a difficult loss to swallow but that the Magpies’ effort couldn’t be faulted.

“It is tough to take but it wasn’t like they didn’t put their hearts and souls into the game. Sometimes it just doesn’t work. We had to chase them and we never got in front of them,” she said.

South Warrnambool raced to a 5-0 lead and was never headed despite constant Camperdown challenges.

Roosters coach Mandy van Rooy said it was a win full of merit.

“That last quarter was messy and it was sloppy but a credit to the girls that they just fought it out and they just had the nerve to shoot it out and win the game,” she said.

“It’s cliche but every game now is a final for us. We knew that, and with such a young side, we put that pressure on ourselves and said ‘we have to win’ and they stood up and did it. Quarter-by-quarter they stuck to their goals, they worked extremely hard so it’s a huge win for us.

“I thought our defensive end was fantastic. We got a lot of turnovers and I thought our pressure down the court was great. We hassled them the whole time.”