Falling three goals down in the first half proved a hurdle just too high to overcome for Hanwood as they got their Pascoe Cup defence underway on Sunday.
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The side fought back after the break but a despite two goals to Daniel Johnson and one to Michael Cimador, the visitors fell 4-3 to Henwood Park.
Hanwood coach Anthony Agresta felt if a couple of early chances went their way it might have been a different story.
"We had a couple of chances early on in the first five-10 minutes, but there keeper pulled off a few saves so we could have been a couple up early," he said.
"They turned it back their way, and sort of out enthused us for the rest of the half and took their chances."
Coming out 3-0 down after the break Hanwood struck first before a penalty saw the Henwood side restore their three-goal advantage.
Two goals had the Hanwood side closing in on a point or potentially even three, but they weren't able to make the breakthrough.
"We started to press again, and in the end, we nearly could have drawn it or nearly even won the game to be fair," he said.
"We spoke after the game, and it was just an attitude thing. In the second half, we were able to turn things around, and we know we can do it, but there is plenty to work on."
While not using it as an excuse, Agresta said he was happy with the improvement he saw with a side that was missing six or seven players from their grand final winning side.
"It's going to take time for the guys to gel and happy with the second half and there are still some positive signs," he said.
"We got back to playing the way we know we can play in the second half.
"In the first half we were just rushing a lot and playing a lot of long stuff, but in the second half we got the ball on the ground and got back to playing the way we wanted to play, and that made a bit of a difference."
Hanwood could be missing Sevi Tropea when they return home next weekend to take on South Wagga after the veteran defender picked up a hamstring injury in the first half.
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