Leeton United's catch-up game has gone exactly as they would have wanted as they came away with a 10-1 win over Cootamundra.
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Adam Raso made the perfect return in the red and black with four goals in his first game in over a year, while Henri Gardiner finished with a hat-trick as he formed part of a dominant forward pairing.
Bailey Carlos, Dan McKenzie and Jaxon Brody scored the remaining goals as Leeton came away with their biggest win of the season.
Co-coach Rhys Jones was happy with how his side was able to make a strong start to the clash.
"First half was really good. We were able to break them down early and were able to get Henri (Gardner) and Raso in behind a fair bit," he said.
"Second half, it took us a while to break them down, and there was a period of five to 10 minutes where they were on top.
"They were well structured in the second half and made it more difficult for us in the second half, so credit to them for that."
Having a prolific front two will play a large role in United's season, and Jones feels they have what it takes if Raso and Gardiner are able to combine.
"It is great to have Raso back. He had a great game, and so did Henri," he said.
"They worked very well up there together, and it was good for us to see that, especially with Raso able to come back straight away, he hasn't played in 13 months.
"We need them both firing because if they are, that is the best shot we have of winning the premiership."
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United now have their biggest test of the season well within their sights as they will travel to Griffith to take on an undefeated Hanwood side.
"With Hanwood next week, we wanted to go in and try a few things," he said.
"Obviously, we wanted to get the ball moving as quick as we could, and we did that really well in the first half, and we did it well in the second part of the second half too.
"We knew we had to break them down early, and we did that, and the second half was more about getting the ball moving and getting ready for next week."
It was a dominant day for Leeton United as the reserve graders were able to take a 13-0 victory over the Strikers.
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