The young Magpies ran onto the Moama Recreation Reserve on Wednesday night in a practice match against their new local rivals Echuca.
It was the first game for Moama as a side and for many players on both sides of the field, their first time playing our native game at all.
Moama coach Matt MacKay said a lot of positive signs came out of the game.
‘‘It was an excellent hit-out,’’ he said.
‘‘For our side, 85 to 90 per cent of the players had never played in a match before, so it was exciting for them to see what a game is like.
‘‘It took some time for the girls to get into it, as is to be expected, but a lot of positives came out of the match that we can work with for the season.’’
Echuca, the more experienced side, also took time to settle into the match according to coach Chris Mitsch.
‘‘It was definitely scratchy early,’’ he said.
‘‘The skills sharpened as the game went on. I was really happy with how the performance went.
‘‘We played finals footy in 2018, so the team has experience which will be key as the season goes on.’’
MacKay said he was most impressed by the desire of his team to learn.
‘‘Our girls are like sponges,’’ he said.
‘‘Every word we tell them at training they take on board. Because so many of them are new to the game, they want to learn so badly and they take every instruction on board.
‘‘It’s fantastic to have a group who desperately want to play the game as well as they can.’’
Mitsch said it’s an exciting time for football in the twin towns.
‘‘It’s fantastic to have two sides in the youth girls,’’ he said.
‘‘It shows how much our game has grown that so many young girls want to play. A few of our side play netball as well, but a lot are focused on football, the sport they love and want to be a part of.’’
No official score was kept in the match, though both sides were able to score multiple goals in a tight contest.
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