SATURDAY night was disappointing because, for the first hour, I thought we were right in the contest against what I believe is the benchmark team in the competition.
Queensland Lions showed exactly why they’ve been so successful over a long period.
We matched them for large periods, but football games are decided by moments and, unfortunately, ours came just before half-time.
To concede from one of our own attacking set pieces and then again from a defensive set piece before the break was simply not good enough.
We’d worked on those situations during the week, so to give away two goals in that manner was frustrating.
What disappointed me most wasn’t necessarily the scoreline.
It was that, as the game wore on, we drifted back into some of the bad habits we’d worked so hard to eliminate over recent weeks.
We stopped sticking to our structures, stopped doing the little things properly and, in the final 20 to 25 minutes, I didn’t think we defended with the discipline that’s required at this level.
The own goal was unfortunate, but it came after we gave away a needless free kick.
Their final goal was also avoidable because we weren’t tracking runners from midfield.
Those finer details matter against quality opposition.
Lions deserve plenty of credit.
They’re the benchmark of the NPL because of much more than what happens on the pitch.
They’ve built a football program over many years with outstanding structure, planning and continuity.
They’re consistently thereabouts every season because they have contingency plans in place and a strong environment behind the scenes.
Every club, including ours, can learn from that.
Away from the result, there were naturally plenty of questions about the changes to our playing squad.
The return of Jez Lofthouse was something we’d always hoped would happen once his commitments in the Solomon Islands finished.
Sota Higashide is in a similar position, and it works well for everyone because he gets valuable football during the Solomon Islands off-season while adding quality to our squad.
We also welcomed Lewis Doci from Brisbane City.
Lewis is primarily a centre-back, although he filled in at left-back against Lions.
He’s a player who has been recommended to us and someone we see as a good long-term addition to the club.
Unfortunately, the transfer window also meant saying goodbye to several players.
Marcus Worthington had an opportunity to return to Strikers where he’ll have the chance to play more regular football.
Marcus hasn’t had as many opportunities with us as he would have liked, so this move made sense for both parties.
Caleb Butler’s departure was disappointing because he’s someone we’d have liked to keep.
Caleb has decided to drop down a level and focus a little more on social football, and we wish him all the very best.
Orlando’s (Heigl) situation was always different.
His agreement with us was only until the transfer window before he returned overseas.
Like Marcus, he probably didn’t get the amount of football either he or we had hoped for, but that’s football sometimes.
There were also questions about Jacob (Krayem).
He’s been a terrific servant of the football club over many years, but I couldn’t guarantee him the starting role he wanted.
He also revealed he was carrying an injury.
Ultimately, he has ambitions to play regular first-team football, and it was probably best for everyone that he looked elsewhere for that opportunity.
As for our new players, it’s important not to rush them.
Jez and Sota haven’t played a great deal of football since May, so we must build their minutes carefully.
They’re also adapting to a different style of play and that takes time.
We want them contributing over the remaining six games, not burning out after one or two weeks.
Now our focus shifts to Rochedale on Friday night.
They’ve turned things around under Scotty and they’ll provide another difficult challenge.
We know exactly what we’re going to get.
For us, these final six matches are effectively six cup finals.
I still believe a finals finish is achievable because this league has shown every week that anyone can beat anyone.
You only must look at the weekend’s results to see that.
The key now is our response.
We need a strong week on the training pitch, we need to get back to the consistency we’d started to build, and we need to return to the basics that brought us success earlier in the season.
The opportunity is still there.
Now it’s up to us to take it.
