OXLEY Vale Attunga has begun its 2019 Northern Inland Premier League campaign in emphatic style, recording a 7-0 victory over East Armidale.
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Sitting out of round 1 due to having the bye, the Mushies wasted no time in securing their first win of the season, with Cale Penrith doing most of the damage by scoring a hat trick.
Mushies playing coach Mitchell O'Keefe said his side's ability to do "the small stuff well" was what helped them secure a victory.
"I was super proud of the guys because despite the score, we didn't have it all our own way," O'Keefe said.
"Our keeper Alec Neill and Jack Diebold were big for us and really everyone did their part.
"It was a really good team win."
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The loss was East Armidale's second for the season after going down to reigning premiers Tamworth FC 8-0 in round 1.
"I think East will get better as the reason rolls on," O'Keefe said.
"I know in our game the scoreline didn't really reflect how close the game actually was.
"The more those guys play together, the better they will get."
O'Keefe said the Mushies will look to have a lighter week on the training track ahead of the Easter long-weekend.
"We have a pretty big double-header the week after the long-weekend, so we will look to take it pretty easy this week," he said.
"With any luck we should probably be getting three of our first grade defenders back so we should be looking pretty good.
"If we can keep a cool head and stick to our structures like we did against East Armidale then I think we will be very competitive."
