The Dungog Boomerangs have learnt from their mistakes and come back to force a two-all draw in their trial game with the Tenambit Sharks.
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Despite not winning, the new coach of the Boomerangs all age team Josh Wilkinson saw the trial game as being overwhelmingly positive.
"We were trialling a few people in different positions but it was definitely a positive result out of the game," Wilkinson said.
"Our defence worked really well and everyone did their job as a team and came together. They did their individual roles for the team."
The Boomerangs lost 3 - 1 in their previous trial game against Clarence Town Kookaburras.
Wilkinson saw a lot of improvement from the previous game in aspects such as communications and making sure that everyone had their basic skills down pat.
"I think we kept things basic, getting everyone communicating and being on the same page. Having a substitution board that made the plan a bit cleaner," he said.
"We've also been training a little bit differently. We did a little bit more targeted training in certain areas where we thought we needed a bit of improvement."
This culminated in Wilkinson seeing improvement in the Boomerangs set plays on corners and throw ins.
The goal that kicked off the game was an own goal by Tenambit, scored off of a corner made by Dungog's striker Ashley Rowe.
The rest of the half was neck and neck with the first half ending with Dungog up 1-0
As the second half of the game got started Dungog kicked off. However, shortly after Tenambit scored a goal to equalise and quickly added another to put them ahead by one goal.
In the closing minutes of the game Rowe put in another cross when Dungog's other striker and former coach Andre Stengl managed to put the ball in the back of the net.
"I thought Andre played quite well, he's always linked well with Ashe but playing up front rather than in the midfield gave him a chance to play aggressively without having to run back," Wilkinson said.
However, the standout player for Wilkinson was Dungog's central defender Caleb Hicks.
"Caleb had a great game at centre back, it's probably one of the better games I've seen him play," he said.
Alongside the defenders, Wilkinson was impressed with new players Henry George and Rebecca O'Reilly.
"Henry is a new player, he was extremely positive linking with players like Ashe and he just composed himself so well," Wilkinson said.
The 2024 season is set to start on Saturday, April 27. For more information visit the Boomerangs Facebook page.