Southern United warmed up for the Stirling Sports Premiership with a 2-1 win over newcomer Tasman United in a pre-season friendly at English Park in Christchurch on Sunday.
The match lived up to the old sporting cliche of a game of two halves, as Southern United coach Paul O'Reilly made sweeping changes at halftime, bringing on a whole new XI, and using 24 players in the game.
''There's a lot still to improve on, but it was a decent performance - getting a 2-1 win was really nice.''
Using such a large squad also allowed Southern United to escape from the game without any significant injuries.
''It was a really good exercise to get a look at everybody and get 45 minutes under the belt of everyone.''
The southern visitor scored twice in the first half through Irish import Eric Molloy, and took a 2-1 lead into halftime as Tasman's recent signing, Dylan Burns, scored the expansion team's sole goal.
The score remained the same in the second half, although Tasman was reduced to 10 men when substitute Mark Johnston was sent off.
Southern United has a friendly against Canterbury United in Timaru next weekend before travelling to north for the opening round of the premiership against the Hamilton Wanderers in Hamilton on October 22.
