Murray United’s boom off-season recruit Tom Youngs has taken his game to another level, according to head coach Elliot Jones.
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Last year’s AWFA Star Player and leading scorer found the back of the net and set up another in Murray’s 2-1 win in a practice match against NPL 2 rivals Northcote City at La Trobe on Saturday.
Youngs now has three goals in two games for his new club, only Zac Walker (four) has more.
“All our strikers had a hand in our goals,” Jones said.
“Melkie set Tommy up for the first one and Tommy played Zac in for the second one, so they were a real handful.
“If Tommy is able to get on the ball facing forward and run at players, he’s just a nightmare.
“I think Zac, Melkie and others are really benefiting from his skills.”
Conceding a late goal from a corner was the only blemish on what was a productive afternoon for the Border outfit.
“We were really pleased with how we performed,” Jones added.
“We knew it would be a really good test and it was exactly what we were after.
“I think the best thing is we seemed really up for the contest and everybody turned up with a determination and were ready to hook in and work hard.
“There’s always lot to work on in terms of combinations and going forward, you’re not getting it exactly right at this time of year, but if the discipline, work rate and all the non-negotiables are there, as a coaching group we’re really happy to see that.”
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Sean Pye returned for his first minutes since overcoming an adducter issue prior to Christmas, while captain Ashley Dunn, Josh Zito and talented youngster Theodore Myers also showed good signs.
“Freddy (Myers) had a chance to come in and he was great and really showed something,” Jones said.
“He’s had a great month and has really started to push his way into the side.
“Pysey was great, he shows a lot of leadership at the back and also just setting up and playing out, he was quite strong.
“We had a couple of guys who were a little bit sore and guys we’re resting to manage workloads.
“At this time of year, you want to get as many games in, but we’re also training really well.”
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