New dutch recruit Tomas van Riet continued to impress for North Companions as they scored a 4-nil win over Tamworth FC on Saturday to round out the Northern Inland Premier League first round.
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Their fourth win for the season it importantly keeps them in touch with the top four and has them primed for a big finals push in the second round after a disrupted start to the season.
Through injuries, illness and players being unavailable for various reasons, they were manager Dave Johnson said "against the bone" for a good part of the first half of the season.
Having put that - fingers crossed - behind them now, on Saturday they fielded one of the strongest sides they have this season, and "played accordingly".
Standing in for regular coach Gavin Thompson, Johnson thought they "totally dominated" the game, and said they probably could have won by more; but that finishing touch just wasn't quite there.
He's hoping that will come as they start to get more consistent combinations.
FC were too Johnson pointed out depleted and missing some of their key players.
But that wasn't to take anything away from the performance from Companions.
They were "pretty strong" and created a lot of opportunities he said.
van Riet was at the centre of a lot of it.
"He had an outstanding game," Johnson said.
"He was everywhere in the midfield and scored a cracking goal in the first half."
Only his fifth game for them, he's already made a big impact.
"He's just an instinctive player," Johnson said.
"You can see it. He's just got that beautiful touch and is a joy to watch."
He noted that at one training session everyone had six shots at goal, and van Riet knocked all six in.
Michael Lewington, Harry Lewington, Campbell Lewis and Owen Rodgers also all had strong games against their former club.
Before Saturday seven points adrift of fourth-placed Armidale City Westside, Johnson believes they are in good stead heading into the second round.
"We're probably back to where we want to be strength wise," he said.
"We've had a lot of guys come back from injury and we're actually benching good first graders.
"It's really going to be a hard job to do the final XI each week because we've got a lot of guys coming back and a lot of options and firepower, so we're excited by that."
Elsewhere on Saturday Armidale City Westside and Norths United played out a 2-all draw, East Armidale pipped South Armidale 1-nil, Demon Knights and Oxley Vale Attunga drew 1-all, and Hillvue edged out South United 3-2.