The Wildcats on paper were a much stronger side than that which visited the Tuncurry Sports Complex back in mid February, bolstered by the return of talismanic striker Ricky Campbell and the experienced Jackson Witts amongst others. 

Both Witts and Campbell caused early problems for the Tigers defensive line as they ran in behind the back four in pursuit of through passes, but both were guilty of missing simple tap ins that might have altered the course of the game.

It was the Tigers who opened the scoring however, when a well worked set piece between Mitch Minors and Zac Mooney saw Minors with time and space enough to curl a well measured shot from just outside the box past the outstretched arm of Wildcats custodian Piet Goss. 

Taree again enjoyed a good spell of possession until the home side doubled its lead shortly after, with Callum Smith’s sublime skill allowing him to tee up Mark Mallia who finished well from close range to make it 2-0. 

The game could have been over for the Wildcats but for Minors missing a tap in after some great lead up play, but the visitors dragged themselves back into the contest when Campbell was found by a long clearing header, and he drew three Tigers defenders, leaving Witts unmarked with an open goal to shoot at. 

The half ended with Taree’s Callum Bartley limping off with a knee injury, but also with his side firmly back in the frame. 

The Tigers were slightly flat on their return after the interval, but withstood some early pressure and after 10 minutes extended their lead, courtesy of another great strike from Minors. Both sides had made changes by this stage, with Matt Whight on for the unwell Jake Bindon, and Jordan Howard on for Bartley for the visitors. 

The reshuffle suited the home side better, but it was the introduction of Jake Camilleri with 30 minutes to go that really seemed to tip the scales in favour of the home side. 

In a blistering spell Camilleri bagged himself three high quality goals, the first of which was a calm tap in after some excellent work from the Tigers’ player of the match Jaidyn Kianou. Camilleri’s hat-trick was interspersed by a debut goal from the Tigers classy new midfielder Blair Smith, and the two remaining goals included an inch-perfect lob of the Wildcats keeper, with the score ending TFFC 7 Taree Wildcats 1.

Alongside Kianou, James McBride was very impressive in the Tigers goal, having made a couple of saves particularly in the first half that in the end helped shape the final outcome.

Codey Chick and Pete Goonan were very solid in defence after a torrid first half, and Mark Mallia again highlighted his class in the middle of the park. 

Next week the Tigers are away to local rivals Wallis Lake, but despite the solid first round win on Saturday, and the recent FFA Cup victory over Wallis Lake, Tigers coach Jonathon Newman was keen to hose down any early season overconfidence.

 “We took our chances well in the second half, but the first half exposed some defensive issues that we have to work hard to sort out this week,” Newman said. 

“Problem is that next game we will be missing five players from first grade, and our reserves will be very light on as well, with Groovin’ the Moo on in Maitland. 

It’s hard to predict how we will go.”

Reserves:

Just like 2015, the Tigers fielded a very young reserve grade side on Saturday, bolstered by a few older heads. 

Taree on the other hand fielded a much more experienced line-up, but together the two sides served up a good quality match, which was very tightly fought from start to finish. 

It wasn’t until the second half when the deadlock was broken, after TFFC’s Paul Elliott found some space down the right, and crossed accurately to Adam Christensen arriving at the back post. 

Christensen was clinical with his headed finish, putting the Tigers in front.

 This lifted the Tigers, and they eventually doubled their lead with a great individual finish by Daniel Barry.

 The young Tigers closed the game out 2-0, showing promising signs for the season ahead. Player’s player for the Tigers was Daniel Barry.