![South Wagga captain Aimee Tramacchi is pursued by Tolland's Madellen Monteleone in their round one Leonard Cup game at Rawlings Park. Picture by Madeline Begley South Wagga captain Aimee Tramacchi is pursued by Tolland's Madellen Monteleone in their round one Leonard Cup game at Rawlings Park. Picture by Madeline Begley](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/187052684/2366475a-164d-4ca1-83c2-2c8a86aaea3c.jpg/r0_207_4046_2491_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Tolland have opened their Leonard Cup campaign with an eight goal frenzy over South Wagga at Rawlings Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Under the guidance of new coach Bernadette Blake, the Wolves kept a fresh-faced South Wagga goalless for an 8-0 win.
Warriors coach Stephen Burns said while there were positives to take from the game, his side was overwrought by the situation.
"They were up against a side that has class across the ground, they're a well oiled machine and I know they played a few trial games," Burns said.
"There were some positives from us, I thought Liv Howell in goals for us was good, we managed to create a few chances of our own, and I thought Caitlin Lewis was pretty solid for us in her first game at centre-back."
MORE LOCAL SOCCER NEWS
Burns said his side is very new with six of their starting 11 new to the club this year.
He said the club will be in a rebuild throughout the season and believes as his players become better acquainted their play will improve.
"It was actually the first time that they'd played a game together," Burns said.
![Lizzie Read and Kara Dyason battle for the ball. Picture by Madeline Begley Lizzie Read and Kara Dyason battle for the ball. Picture by Madeline Begley](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/187052684/2b5eed96-d74c-403d-9d1d-f76feb0e3402.jpg/r0_0_2083_2604_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We opted not to play trail games this season given how long the girls have been together so they were probably missing a bit of match fitness as well."
Burns felt the score didn't necessarily reflect the game play, with six of Tolland's goals coming late in the second half.
Reflecting on their game he said he's identified key improvement areas but was proud with how the side finished the game.
"Number one for us was to build on and continue the amazing club culture that we have going at the moment," he said.
"They're all great girls and very sociable, and they all get around each other.
"It was a really good vibe for the club at the ground."
With both their Leonard and Madden Cup sides at capacity, Burns said he's feeling positive for the rest of the season.
The club intends to work with a senior squad and will continue to move players across teams until finalising each side.
"Going back a couple of weeks and we had a team or a team and a half where now we've jumped up to full which is really exciting for us," he said.
"We're a squad, not two teams, we're dynamic and you could be playing firsts one week but that could change pretty quickly, we haven't worked out definite teams as of yet and we'll see how that works out."
South Wagga will host Junee in their round two game next week.
Leonard Cup results, round two
Hanwood 3 d Young 2 at Hall Brothers Oval.
Tolland 8 d South Wagga 0 at Rawlings Park.
Junee 6 d Wagga United 1 at Temora.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters