A 12-man squad headed south across the border to take on Myrtleford Savoy and gave their manager plenty to think about after playing out a 3-all draw on Saturday.

“It was all pretty good from our end, especially for the first game of the year,” Morgan said.

“I think a draw was a pretty fair result given the team that we had – we were missing a few boys like Jake (Ploenges), Prince (Thompson), Stu (Smeeth) and Caylum (Barber) – and it’s a bit tough having just 12 guys to work with.

“But overall it was good and some of the younger boys like Lachie Cooke, Logan Flanagan and Zach Pinney got some decent time out there as well.”

Morgan was impressed with new recruits Joe Preece and Danny Johnson, both of whom delivered measured performances on debut, and made note of his side’s strong ball retention in tough conditions.

“Preecey was one of our best out there, he scored two goals with Freddy (Gardner) getting the other and he looked really settled.”

“Danny was solid up the back and it’s good having someone with his experience alongside talented players like Justin Curran.

“I think we also did quite well in possession and hanging onto the ball – we were creating plenty of chances and managed to take a couple as well – but we were also quite wasteful at times and that’s something we’ll look over the next few weeks.”

Wanderers skipper Rob Fry agreed with his coach’s appraisal of Preece and Johnson, singling out the latter’s presence in defence.

“I’d say Joey would’ve been my best on ground, he was excellent for us out there,” Fry said.

“Dan was also really solid at the back for us and his size is big plus for our team – size is something we’ve never really had and he’s definitely got it.

“Makes goalkeeping a lot easier when you’ve got a big fella like him in defence.”

Fry also paid tribute to the 12-man Wanderers squad for matching it with a stacked Myrtleford side featuring plenty of reserves.

“It was a pretty entertaining game and I’m pretty happy that the boys held out against a side with a full bench.”

“You can tell they’ve all only been training for a few weeks but it’s looking good so far and we did well out in the heat.

“I think we’re starting to see the bones of a good side here.”

Morgan reserved special praise for Hanwood FC recruit Andy Gamble, who featured heavily in Wanderers’ up-tempo opening half.

“He just came along to trial and get a feel for it but I thought he played fantastically well through the middle – definitely would love to have him on board.”

Wanderers will take on Myrtleford again this Friday at Gissing Oval before a further five trial matches against Western Mariners, Monaro Panthers, Tigers FC, Young and Hanwood FC.

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