This one at the weekend had particular appeal. Not only was it the first real match of 2015 for the Raiders, the reigning Premiers, it was also a round two fixture of the FFA Cup.

The Raiders - with a bye in the first round of the Cup and just two trial matches under the belt (one good, one not so) - lined up against the Lions who had only scraped through the first round in a penalty shootout against Northern Storm.

The opening exchanges didn’t disappoint; both sides played with precision and discipline. There were few shots on goal in the early stages with both defences reacting well and most of the play concentrated in the middle third.

The duel between Raider Kale Hopper and Lion Judd Duncan was absorbing but after Hopper boned the young fella and connected with Raiders defender Dom Kelly (who is looking more and more likes his namesake Ned) it produced the first chance of a near chanceless first half.

Kelly collected the ball on halfway with the Lions defence adjusting too slowly, he bounced a pass off Grant Homes and proceeded forward at pace. At the edge of the Lions penalty area Kelly feigned one way, floated the other, and had the goal at his mercy. Lions keeper Ian Davies advanced legs akimbo and did enough to steer Kelley’s off-balance shot wide.

The Lions however continued to press the Raiders, aided by a blustery north-easterly, and were first to score only minutes before the break after Scott Goddard intercepted a weak pass from the Urunga defence and slotted an excellent shot just wide of the Raiders stand-in keeper, Lee Kennedy. At 1-0 to the Lions, the half-time whistle was well met by all players considering the temperature had just punched through the 32 degree mark.

The second stanza was a reverse of the first, the Lions defending and the Raiders controlling large sections of play. Sam Sawtell had the Raiders first chance only minutes into the half as he barrelled through some weak Coffs defence in chase of a ball he had ‘no chance of getting’ … but get he did and on-goal he was.

Ian Davis was again Coffs’ saviour as Sawtell’s shot under pressure from several defenders deflected off his knee. It didn’t get much better for the Lions in that half as they toiled through 45 minutes of defending.

The Raiders continued to probe for an opening and the Lions held until Kale Hooper dispossessed Duncan in a solid midfield tackle. Hopper found Fabrice Wamara lurking on the right side, who moved to the left, finding Sam Sawtell, who cracked a first time shot at Davies. The rebound fell to Hopper who had followed the movement downfield and tapped in for the score.

The Raiders who had been behind for the last 60 minutes were smelling some blood in the water with 30 minutes on the clock.

There were some exceptional moments as the half closed out; Wamara’s acrobatic bicycle kick bouncing off the cross bar and Sawtell’s free kick with minutes to go again hitting the woodwork.

Regular time was up and the score was one-all, so an immediate penalty shootout was needed which the Lions won 7-6 to advance to round three.