EAST Armidale showed it could be a surprise finals contender in the Northern Inland Premier League after thrashing Demon Knights 6-3 last week.
In a catch-up match after round one was washed out, Easts flexed their muscle on their home patch at Doody Park to send a message to the competition.
“It was a really good team performance,” coach Mark Gwynne said.
“I don’t really know why there were so many goals scored, perhaps because it was under lights, but I’m not sure.”
After missing a couple of early chances, Easts hit the scoreboard in succession to lead 2-0 after 15 minutes.
Demon Knights had no answers as they were left chasing the ball for most of the contest.
At one stage Easts led 6-1, but DK scored a couple of late goals to add respectibility to the scoreboard.
“I don’t think you would see much better soccer in town,” Gwynne said.
“I had one old Easts supporter come up to me after the game to say he hadn’t seen us play this well in 10 years.”
While finals are still a long way off for last year’s north conference wooden spooners, Gwynne said he was confident of a good season.
“We’ve still got a couple of players coming back into the side which means we have depth,” he said.
“We are probably only 70 per cent of the way to where we want to be … we aren’t terribly fit.”
Jake Davies continued his golden run up forward with a hat-trick, while Hoani Morrell provided plenty of support.
Rhys Andrews dominated through the middle and Easts skipper Josh Clarke was a rock at centre back, Gwynne said.
There are no matches scheduled for this weekend, although Guyra and Gunnedah United will play on Saturday for their round one catch-up game.
