We walked away from Moreton City on Saturday night pretty disappointed.
At 2-0 up after 66 minutes, we felt we were in a really strong position. We’d started well with Zach Maltby’s early goal and then Fernando Nash put us two goals clear midway through the second half.
The frustrating part is that we created enough chances to put the game away long before then.
It’s becoming a bit of a theme at the moment. Similar to Tuesday night, we’re creating plenty of opportunities but not taking enough of them. Against the better sides in this competition, if you don’t take your chances, you leave the door open.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.
Moreton City pushed hard in the final stages and their first goal came from a long-range strike outside the box, which gave them some momentum and belief. We also had to make a few changes we probably didn’t want to make, bringing on some younger players and trying to manage tired legs.
In the end, we just didn’t defend well enough in those crucial moments and they found an equaliser late.
The boys were understandably disappointed after the game. When you’re leading 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to play, it feels like two points lost.
Having said that, there are still plenty of positives.
Over the past week we’ve played two of the competition’s top sides and, on the balance of play, I think we could have won both matches. To be honest, we’ve come away from those games disappointed not to have taken six points.
That tells me we’re doing a lot right.
We’re creating chances, competing strongly against quality opposition and showing that we belong in every game we play. The challenge now is turning those performances into wins.
To break into the top four, we need to be more clinical in front of goal and make sure we manage those key moments better when games are on the line.
I don’t think there’s one single factor holding us back this season. Earlier in the year it was red cards and discipline issues. More recently it’s been our inability to put teams away when we’re on top.
The encouraging thing is that the group continues to believe. We go into every match expecting to win, regardless of the opposition.
Next up is another tough assignment away to Lions, but the attitude won’t change. They’ve had a very good season, but everyone is beatable in this league.
The last two games have reinforced that for us.
Now it’s about turning good performances into three points.
