“The beautiful game”, they call it but, as one local championship side found out recently, that’s a description that is more often honoured in the breach, than the observance…

Western Premier League Champions, Macquarie United kicked-off their new season hosting a strong Sydney West combination, Marayong FC, in the Australia Cup last Saturday.

Under a new coach and minus inspirational defender, Jamie Lobb, it was always going to be a tough test for the local club in the national championship, with United evetnually going down 5-0.

“We played well in the first-part of the game, but they were much better drilled and fitter than us across the board,” a club official said.

“We will take plenty out of the experience and feel confident of defending our title this year,” they added.

Our photographer Ken Smith says it was a “spirited” contest with one Dubbo player requiring ambulance attention, two red cards (one for each side), and plenty of yellows also handed-out.

With the game now out of the way, this season’s Western Premier League kicks-off next month with a new Dubbo team making for less travel for the MUFC and Bulls clubs and more opportunities for local players to compete against the best from Bathurst, Orange, and Parkes.