Australia Cup: OVA Mushies fall to Coffs Coast in gritty clash

But far from feeling despondent, Mushies coach Tim Coates was proud of the effort his team put forward, and believes they took a lot away from their pre-season games.

Like last year, OVA ran into the Coffs Coast Tigers in the Australia Cup. And like last year, they found themselves outmatched by a side Coates described last week as "one of the better teams in country football".

But unlike their 2022 encounter, the Mushies kept pace with the Tigers for much of Saturday's game, which was closer than the eventual 5-0 scoreline suggests.

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"Yesterday was 1-0 for 60 minutes," Coates said.

"They were the better side, but we played very well. I'm very pleased with the boys, it was a great effort."

The score did blow out late, thanks to a blend of some fortunate goals for Coffs and a "fairly obvious" penalty that wasn't called for OVA, but at the end of it all, Coates was pragmatic.

"That's the way it goes sometimes," he said.

As is often the case in country sport, OVA were missing a couple of key players for the away fixture, but Coates said that was "no excuse", and praised the young guns who stepped up.

"It was good to have a couple of young blokes on the bench to give them experience," he said.

"We did the best we could with what we had, and everybody who went did a really good job."

OVA will now look towards the Kevin Johnson Cup as its next preseason fixture, but Coates confirmed only players who hadn't taken part in the Australia Cup would in the local tournament.

It will round out the Mushies' preparation, with which Coates has been pleased this year.

"The trial against Narrabri was a good trial for us, the game against Bellingen went our way, and the game against Coffs Tigers we always thought would be intense, and it was for 60 minutes," he said.

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