It wasn't the homecoming the Dubbo Demons were after when they hosted Orange Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
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The Demons started slow against Orange at South Dubbo Oval and it was the Tigers' dominant first quarter which led them to a 11.9.75 to 10.9.69 win in round two of the AFL Central West season.
The Dubbo Tier 1 side came into the match fresh off a win against Bathurst Giants in round one but coach Terry Lyons said there were a few areas he believes the side struggled with on Saturday.
"We uncovered a few things for us but it's a good time to find those things out," he said.
"We definitely struggled with out setup in our backline early but that settled as the game wore on.
"We obviously clawed back the deficit from the first quarter as much as we could."
Orange scored 38 points to Dubbo's 13 in the opening quarter of the game before a last term push by the Demons got them within range of winning.
While they didn't win, Lyons admitted he was happy to witness the resilience of his side after struggling early.
"I think it was good to see the guys fight back," he said.
"Anybody who gets six goals kicked on them in the first quarter can drop their head but they dug in.
"They worked back into it until basically the siren we pushing for the win.
"That's a good sign of the attitude the guys have.
"There is definitely a lot for us to work on, a lot of structural things we noticed on the weekend that we can improve."
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Saturday's win was Orange's first of the season and Lyons believes his side were outplayed but knows the Demons' performance was poor.
"Orange played really, really well and they kept hitting their targets," he said.
"While we kept missing ours and they created their own luck with a lot of bounces going their way because they backed themselves.
"We were just behind from the start, it's a difficult game but the guys hung in there.
"I don't think overall we could've played worse so to still be in it in that second half was a credit to the guys."
In a bright spot for the Demons, 17-year-old Jake Egan made his first grade debut and Lyons is confident the youngster has a big future after a strong showing on Saturday.
"He played brilliantly, probably a few moments of nervous energy at the beginning but then he settled in," he said.
"He was one of our key players but the end of the game.
"It was a very, very good effort by him."
The Dubbo Men's Tier 2 side recorded their second consecutive win of the season after defeating Orange 10.5.65 to 5.5.35 earlier in the day.
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