The Lions dominated the game early with a goal by Ellie Hawkey setting the pace for the remainder of the game.

“That early goal took a lot of pressure off the girls and allowed them to settle into position and structors they’ve been training for,” coach Brett Humphreys said.

“Once that pressure was off we clicked into rhythm and it clicked into gear for us.”

The points kept rolling in for the Lions, with Hawkey scoring a further six goals, Jemma Long scoring two, and Micaela Hall one.

Despite only having 11 players the women held their structure well and were able to put into play what they’ve been focusing on at training.

“It was good that everyone - despite having no reserves - was able to play the full 90 minutes,” Humphreys said.

“Everyone communicated well and it was a good effort for everyone to keep the other team scoreless.

“We kept our structure well and we’ve been working on passing, first touch at training and it all worked well.”

Humphreys said the women played well as a team, with everyone doing their bit to contribute to the win.

But he’s keeping an open mind heading into Round 3  this weekend, with Cootamundra predicted to put up a fight.

“It was a pretty big score line but we need to be realistic and not get ahead of yourself, just get through this week and prepare for Cootamundra,” he said.

“In the trial game against Cootamundra [during preseason] they did put a few goals on us, so we are expecting it to be a bit tough this week.”

Player’s player went to Ellie Hawkey, with Tessa Long picking up the Coaches Choice.

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The Young Lions men’s squad suffered a 3-2 defeat away to South Wagga on Sunday in round two of the Football Wagga Pascoe Cup.

The Lions found it difficult to break down their opponents on a small pitch in the first half. 

South Wagga implemented a counterattacking game plan and were the first to score with a quick attack before the Lions equalised shortly afterwards. 

After some good lead-up play, Simon Bouche was fouled just inside the penalty area earning his side a penalty that Tyler Allen successfully converted. 

The scores didn’t remain level for long with South Wagga scoring a fortuitous goal to take a deserved 2-1 lead into half time.

The Lions continued to push for an equaliser in the second half however South Wagga launched yet another lightning attack to take the score to 3-1. 

Young reduced the deficit to one when a Caylum Barber free-kick was turned in by a South Wagga defender, but that ultimately ended up being a consolation. 

Frazer Burns was judged to be Young’s best (for the second match in succession) with Bouche and Duncan Cameron also having strong games.

Young Lions coach Mark Mellish was disappointed with the result and knows his team needs to improve against one of the surprise packets of the competition. 

“South Wagga has picked up some handy players from last year and we basically let them run the show in the first half” Mellish said. 

“We fought back well to be down 3-2 and were the better side in last 20 minutes, but once again it was our slow start that let us down. 

“We have worked on increasing our tempo at the start of games and this will be something that we need to do if we are to remain competitive.”

The next challenge facing the Lions is the reigning premiers Wagga United. 

It will be the first home game for the season, with kick off being 3pm Sunday at Gus Smith Oval. 

Young will be without Barber and Jarod Schiller (both suspended), Dmitry Sytin is ineligible as he awaits clearance from his former club and Tyler Allen will also be missed due to representative commitments with Wagga City Wanderers in State League 2. 

The Lions will be boosted, however, as they welcome back Brant Taylor who has chosen to play for Young over Canberra NPL side Woden Weston FC this season, as well as Jordan Callaghan (injury) and Nathan Hislop, Chris Kerr and Calum McCaffery who were unavailable for South Wagga.

Young Lions 2 (Allen, own goal) lost to South Wagga 3.