The Maitland Magpies claimed first bragging rights for 2020 with a 3-2 trial win against Coalfields rival Weston Bears at Cooks Square Park on Wednesday night.
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Fans from both sides can take real heart from the trial with the Bears showing enough to suggest that they can take the next step and seal a finals spot after last year's marked improvement.
Maitland's goals came through Joel Wood, Liam and Carl Thornton and Liam Wilson and Aaron Niyonkuna scored for the Bears with some great set up play by
Maitland were unable to fully profit from some exciting moves forward but any doubts about whether Wood and Braedyn Crowley could work together in the forward third have definitely been cast aside.
Wood finished with one goal and could quite easily have had three, Crowley's touch at times was superb despite not being able to find the back of the net.
The service was first class and last year's competition golden boot Crowley and runner-up Wood could quite easily match their output of last year as teammates.
Jimmy Thompson's service to his two strikers was first class and he could have picked up a couple of goals himself. Tommy Duggan showed plenty of speed and dash, Sean Pratt was creative and Nick Cowburn controlled the midfield.
Magpies coach Mick Bolch said there were plenty of positives to take forward from the game.
"We need to be more clinical in the front-third. Our ball movement in the first half needed to be quicker," Bolch said. "The combinations are coming. We still haven't had our full squad together yet, we were missing Zach Thomas and Cummo (Matt Comerford) tonight.
"But they are putting some good stuff together. We can probably get a bit more tighter defensively, we gave two goals away but that will tighten up as we go but plenty of positives.
"In patches our defensive pressure was really good, but unfortunately it wasn't always as a unit.
"We were able to create a couple of very good opportunities with pressure and it will get better as a whole with games together."
Bears coach Leo Bertos said he was pleased with his side's performance although there were still plenty of things to work on.
Bertos said games against quality opponents such as Maitland were vital as his team tried to implement new strategies and styles of play.
"We are trying to play at a quicker tempo now it is important that players are capable to that," he said. "Possession is very important for us so we've been working very hard on that. There's been progress but still a bit of work to do.
"It's now about tweaking some things and ensuring we have all the boys available so we can get our best team out on the park."