A WIN away from home, a clean sheet, two great goals and a stand-out display in the backline.
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There was a lot to like from Panorama FC's display in the opening round of the Western Premier League (WPL) season, as the Goats claimed a solid 2-0 win against Dubbo Bulls at Apex Oval.
Goats coach Ricky Guihot was thrilled with his team's performance.
"There's a lot to work up but there's a lot of positives," he said.
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"A 2-0 win and a clean sheet. You've got to score goals to win but you've got to be on song at the back when you come up against some of these teams.
"I thought our two centre backs - Hayden Griffiths and Jarvis Callan-McKechnie - were phenomenal. They had standout games.
"Our left and right backs - Jackson Fuda and Alex Elliott - were brilliant and Paul Long and Dylan White played 90 minutes, doing their role."
Jaiden Culbert continued where he left things off in 2022, with the Goats forward making the most of a mishap in the Bulls backline to open the scoring in the opening five minutes.
Culbert strike was in 13th in two seasons in the WPL, his tally of 12 in 2022 coming after his return from an anterior crucial ligament injury.
Dylan White would double the Goats lead in the 38th minute, when his on-target free kick took a deflection of a Bulls defender and went into the back of the net.
It was just the lively midfielder's third Goats goal in two season and it gave his team a 2-0 lead at half-time.
It's the second consecutive season the Goats have defeated Dubbo Bulls in the opening round of the season and the third consecutive season starting the WPL with a victory.
The aforementioned Callan-McKechnie, who was called up from Panorama's Bathurst District Football men's premier league squad, was Guihot's pick for the best player on the day.
"Jarvis was best on ground," he said.
"He played absolutely brilliant. It's the best I've ever seen the kid play.
"He won everything he went for, he was calm on the ball and he delivered some really good crosses. He was on."
Guihot believes his team will only get better as the season progresses.
"We'll be a different side to what we were last year," he said.
"We started so well last season but that was a different team. I think if people compare us to what we did last year, it's not going to work.
"We're a different side, a different structure and we're playing differently.
"As the season goes on, we'll get better, once we understand how we're going to play, who's going to play where and when we get everyone back.
"We didn't have Steven Long, Tom Dale and Jarrod Portegies."
In other results around the grounds, Bathurst '75 suffered a 4-2 defeat to Macquarie United at the same venue after the Goats-Bulls match.
In the third and final match at Apex Oval, Orana Spurs crushed reigning champions Orange Waratahs 5-2.
A Barnstoneworth United team that was light on numbers secured a 1-0 win away against Parkes Cobras.
PANORAMA 2 (Jaiden Culbert, Dylan White) defeated DUBBO BULLS 0
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