The Stags won 4-2 in a pre-season match against Canberra big guns Belconnen United on Sunday.

The result was music to the ears of coach David Jones, who wasn’t too sure what to expect coming into the game.

“It was an eye opener,” he said.

“I was expecting it to be on par with what we had in the Highlands, maybe technically better and better structure because the level of coaching has a lot of experience over there.”

“Don’t get me wrong, they’re no mugs, they know how to knock a ball around. A lot of their blokes have played premier league before.”

The match was played over three periods.

Captain Aaron Swanson bagged a brace in the first period before Belconnen notched a goal back.

Swanson then scored a third goal for a pre-season hat-trick and club newcomer and ex-strikers player Josh Phelps also netted one before a late consolation goal for Belco.

“The boys definitely wanted to prove something,” Jones said.

“Belconnen are the biggest club in Canberra. They have more juniors than anyone.”

“We have really good defensive work, we drop behind the ball quickly, and have a lot of speed up front.

“Phelps worked really hard, he has a level of work rate I like.

“I must say Nathan Bopping also put in a 110% effort and ran his heart out. It surprised me, he’s a bloke who is really doing everything he can to push into the squad.”