Moore Creek were left to wonder what could have been after upsetting North Companions and knocking them out of the Northern Inland Premier Division title race on Saturday.
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The Mountain Goats' 3-1 win combined with other results saw Companions slip back to fifth, and took them to within a win of the finals.
Adam Jones was the hero on the scoresheet, the striker scoring all three of the Mountain Goats goals in what was a good way to finish off what was a bit of a rollercoaster season.
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"It was a bit disappointing, obviously we were fourth for a quite a lot of the season, a lot of injuries hurt us second half of the year. But to finish the way we did, to win 3-1 against Norths, who are a prominent premier league side was an exceptional way for our first season in premier league to finish," Jones said.
It was a season of learning for the fledgling club, and while "it would have been nice" to make the finals, he said they can be "really proud" of what they did this season.
They had some "really good performances" and pushed powerhouse Tamworth FC all the way, the reigning premiers scoring in the last couple of minutes to sneak home 5-4.
"Starting from scratch last year we made the semi's in first grade and second grade for the local stuff, which was a good effort, and second year to be really competitive and be on the edge of making the (premier league) semi's is something we can build on for next year," Jones said.
"Obviously the benchmark is FC and OVA, and the next couple of years I reckon we can bridge that gap a fair bit."
He said one of the biggest lessons they will take away is around fitness and training.
"You see those bigger clubs always have a lot of numbers at training, and they're always a lot fitter," Jones said.
"We've been competitive in a lot of games until mid-way through the second half."
"Last game against Souths for example we were 1-all until about 15 to go and they scored three late goals."
There were a few games like that where they were in a position to either win or draw, but lost just at the back end of the game.
"And I think a lot of that's got to do with fitness and training. We don't get the numbers to training that we need to to be competitive yet," he said.
Jones thought outside of the FC game, Saturday was their best performance of the season.
"It was a really good team effort today," he said.
"Everyone just dug deep."
It was 2-1 for a long-time in the second half, Jones scoring the sealer with about five minutes to go.
He will now turn his attention to the cricket pitch with the Bective stalwart indicating he is planning to play a few games for the Bulls this season.
"There's a few young blokes coming to the club so hopefully I can take a bit of a step back and watch them succeed and maybe (play) if we're a bit short," Jones said.
One such 'young bloke' is Landan Price with the Bulls picking up the ACT/NSW Country under-17s rep from Old Boys. He will be a big asset Jones said.
"Everyone knows the talent that he's got and hopefully we can tap into that talent," he said.
The season gets underway this Saturday.
