McDonald Stratford Football had a cracker of a start to its season with a first round win for the Men's division one team against Withers Coachlines Moturoa AFC in Saturday's match.

It was a game that started with Stratford taking some time to settle down, allowing Moturoa to put the first goals in the back of the net within a couple of minutes of each other, giving Moturoa a 2:0 lead.

This was short lived with Isaac Burroughs scoring for Stratford a minute later connecting with a rebound from a strike by Dan White.

After that the goals started to flow, with Dan White scoring twice more before the halftime break giving Stratford a 3:2 lead.

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Fitness played a big part in the second half with Stratford's preseason training paying off.
Dan White kept up a relentless attack on the goal scoring twice more followed by one from Chris Hamlin before the final whistle.

The final score was 6:2 to Stratford in a game that will give them a good confidence boost after stepping up to division one. The game provided the team with some knowledge of what they need to work on if they are going to repeat their success from last season.

The 2019 season is looking good for McDonald Stratford following their success in winning the Mens division two title last year.

This meant they could step up to Men's division one, but have also had enough interest to field a second men's team in division two along with the Tungsten Legal women's team.

The junior and youth registrations have been well attended and training has commenced for these age groups on Wednesday afternoons with the junior season starting on May 4.

It's not too late to join up, with Stratford still taking late registration.