A new-look Murray United side pushed NPL 1 outfit Oakleigh Cannons all the way in their opening pre-season fixture at La Trobe on Saturday.
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The Border side raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half, before Oakleigh clicked into gear to record a 4-2 victory.
An own goal opened the scoring inside 25 minutes, before star striker Tom Youngs rounded the keeper and completed a nice finish for Murray's second.
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Murray conceded twice to go into the break locked at 2-2 and Oakleigh's fitness saw it finish the game stronger with another two goals in the second half.
Wangaratta star Stoycho Ivanov made his first appearance for the club and was solid in defence, while NPL Queensland export Ryan Ramsden showed some positive signs in goals.
Coach Igor Srbinovski was pleased with the effort.
"We had an idea of what we wanted to do and that was to compete for every opportunity on and off the ball and I feel that the boys did that," he said.
"It showed in the first 20-25 minutes where we were even with Oakleigh, if not better.
"Leading 2-0 against a team that got to the prelims in last year's finals and finished third is something we should be pretty proud of.
"If ground zero for us is a decent performance against Oakleigh Cannons who are three weeks away from their season starting, we can only really improve."
Murray's pre-season continues against another NPL 1 side in Altona Magic at home next weekend.