The Lions were missing four central midfielders due to representative commitments, and unavailability, and put together a makeshift defensive midfield against the more experienced Sharks side. 

Coach Mark Mellish said the first 25 minutes was a cagey affair with neither side able to maintain pressure in their opponents final third.

“Our first real chance of the game fell to Milo Dowling, his near post shot after 35 minutes was well saved by the Lake Albert goalkeeper, shortly after this we hit the crossbar but were unable to find the lead,” he said.

“In the second half, the Lions created more chances, the best being a free kick to Jordan Callaghan which to the dismay of or supporters just wouldn’t cross the line. Despite the pressure that our team was applying Lake Albert scored the winning goal with 10 minutes to go.” 

Coach Mellish said Young had a golden chance to sneak a well-deserved point in the final minutes when Dowling raced clear of the Lake Albert defence as part of a sweeping counterattack. 

“His shot had the sting taken out of it by the Lake Albert keeper and a Sharks defender was able to save the goal bound ball with a goal-line clearance,” he said.

Despite the loss Mellish was pleased with the way his players stepped up to the challenge against a perennial competition heavyweight. 

“We knew they would be difficult, and with the forced changes in midfield we had a few players in unfamiliar roles,” he said. “However, my guys once again stuck to the game plan and to be honest, I felt that we were the better side. We pretty much negated their attack and had we finished our chances better we would have had all three points.

“After the game, I had plenty of Lake Albert players telling me how much Young had improved over last year,” he said. “Everyone looks willing to put in a shift on the field and do as I ask them and that’s the most pleasing thing. Our best were Jake Burns, Angus Johnson and Isaac Hines.”

The Young Lions third grade men’s side started the same way they finished last weeks game, scoring freely in the first half. The team stuck to the game plan of marking and supporting each other with overlapping runs to take a lead of 7-0 into the sheds.  In the first half one of the younger rookies, Jason Smith stepped up and took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring two goals and having a hand in setting up another one. In the second half Young attempted to work on their linking passes and movement off the ball, however, a lack of finesse had Young score only one more goal leaving the final score at 8 – 1.  Best players were Jack Castle and Andrew Carberry.  Coach Mellish said overall it was a strong effort, but Young still need to work on the little one percent things to make a perfect game.  The Young Lions women's side travelled to Wagga to take on Henwood Park. The game was Young’s for the taking with two goals scored in the first four minutes. Young then scored freely with five more goals, however Henwood was allowed to breach the defence and scored four, but this still allowed the women to walk away with a comfortable win.  Jemma Long said Young had a good defensive line led by Tessa Long with some great work up front with long-range goals by Micaela Hall, bagging four. Regan Draper also had a solid game in both halves. “We need to concentrate on our structure in defence as this was when Henwood scored, and our passing,” she said. The next games for the sides are on the April 29 with both taking on Wagga United in Wagga.  It will be tough as all sides have won their opening two rounds.