A slow start to each half saw them chasing the game although Vaughan Lickley's late equaliser rescued a point in their 2-all draw with Kempsey Saints.

The visitors two goals were separated by a Patrick Hamilton screamer before Lickley's heroics after he came off the bench as a substitute midway through the second half.

Saints coach Darrell Pascoe was satisfied his side started their campaign on a positive note after an opening round bye.

"I thought we had some good opportunities - maybe some more - but we're probably not quite there yet to put them in the back of the net," he said.

"We've still got some work to do."

Kempsey are in the middle of a busy schedule after they progressed to the fifth round of the FFA Cup last week.

But Pascoe was impressed with the way his youthful side stuck at it.

"We had three young guys come in at the end; we've got something like eight 16 or 17-year-old's in our squad so it's exciting times for Port Saints," he said.

Some of Saints' passages of play were good for the football neutral and the coach was pleased to see it reap the rewards.

"If the boys can replicate that for the rest of the season it won't matter whether we win, lose or draw; I thought we played good footy, it was good to watch," he said.

"When we knocked the ball around and played combination football we looked bloody dangerous, we just didn't do that for long enough periods in the game.

"The good thing is I can't get in their way.

"They're good enough on their own, my job is just to organise them a little bit."

While Hamilton's goal was the headline act, it was his effort off the ball that gained him the Tacking Point Tavern player of the match award.

"Patty was composed as a nine for us and that's something we've been working on," Pascoe said.

"(But) the goal was a screamer. He took his time and did what he needed to do. He's the biggest improver by far."

While happy to get their first result of the season out of the way, Saints will work on their ability to stay focused for the entire match.

Pascoe admitted that was one of the disappointments.

"It's a 90-minute game," he said.

"They got us pretty quickly in both halves - in the first 20 minutes we were one down - but then came back to 1-1, and then came back (to 2-2)."

He said it was one point gained rather than two points lost.

"If we can tidy up a little bit and still score our goals, hopefully we'll win a few more games and the coach keeps his job."