Tamworth made a promising start to their NSW Men’s Masters Over 55’s State Championship campaign on Friday.
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Contesting C Division, the hosts opened with a 2-nil win over Goulburn (2) before drawing 1-all with Inverell.
One of the favourites to take out the title, coach Ian Woodley said the draw with their northern neighbours was a good result.
Ben van Aanholt scored the equaliser for Tamworth as they fought back from 1-nil down.
“We probably dominated the second half but could only get the one goal,” player Graeme McKenzie said.
Conditions were tough in the second half with a storm moving through, the wet field making it difficult to move the ball around.
Earlier Rick Ambrose and Danny Kelly had found the back of the net.
”We had quite a few opportunities but we were short of quite a bit of cohesion,” McKenzie said.
That’s not surprising being so early in the season and having limited time together.
Woodley singled out van Aanholt and Andrew Newman as two of Tamworth’s best performers.
They controlled the ball well in the midfield.
Wayne Griffith also impressed in goals.
”It’s his first tournament at masters so he’s done really well,” Woodley said.
They play Grafton (2) and Newcastle (3) on Saturday.
The champions in all three divisions will be decided on Sunday, the championships drawing teams from Sydney, Bathurst, Illawarra, Far North Coast, Grafton and Goulburn.
