Five to Hanwood secure them first win of the season over Young

Coach Jason Bertacco said it's always tough heading to Young, with more than two-and-a-half hours on the road before playing.

As anticipation for the season opener built, Bertacco said it was exciting to get a positive result.

"We were pretty dominant in how we controlled the ball," Bertacco said.

"Young had five at the back for most of the match, so to keep the ball the way we did and be patient was really patient."

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The early win isn't accompanied with over confidence, with Bertacco quick to identify key areas for improvement.

Keeping communication open with his side, Bertacco said that players were able to self identify pressure areas for themselves and work with coaches to improve them through the game.

"As a coach I try to allow the players to speak their mind," he said.

"Obviously they're playing the game, I'm not out there, so they know a bit more about the pace, things that are going on.

"I like to bounce off them and let them have their say, and it's good they realise exactly what we're thinking."

A long pre-season, including an Australia Cup campaign, set up Hanwood for a strong opening.

"When Young tried to press on us and the game got into a bit of an arm wrestle, the boys had already been in that in the games we'd had, so that was a positive," Bertacco said.

Hanwood had four goal scorers, with Daniel Johnson, Christopher Zappala, Luca Valensisi, and William Piva each finding the back of the net.

With good depth in his side Bertacco was able to pull several players from his bench and rotate through positions.

Both Young's goals came late in the second half, one from a free kick and one to poor defence from Hanwood.

"The boys had kind of switched off and Young were able to play some good football and pass it around, they created a chance and they took it," he said.

He'll be speaking to his side to ensure they don't drop again.

"It's about having that little bit of killer instinct, you never know what could happen, if the ref plays 15 minutes of extra time, and they end up coming back and getting to 5-all we have egg on our face," he said.

"We've just got to be that little bit smarter, shut it out for the 90-minutes and then we can have our rest."

Across the board Bertacco said the club was jumping to get back on the field and begin their 2023 season.

"It's finally up and running and it's about getting into that grind, week in week out," he said.

Hanwood will be back on the road on Sunday, meeting Tumut at Rawlings Park for their round two game.

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