CHRIS Ninness provided a much-needed spark for Services Workies as they accounted for Kiwis 4-2 in their Tamworth men’s first grade clash on Sunday.
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Ninness’s three goals were the difference in what was an uninspired performance from the defending premiers.
“We did just enough,” coach Andrew Farmilo said.
They were fortunate to have a two-goal cushion at half-time, with Kiwis winning the second half 2-1.
“They came at us and put us under a bit of pressure and we probably didn’t react,” Farmilo said. “We were too slow getting rid of the ball.”
“That led to us turning the ball over.”
They turned over too much ball in the Kiwis’ frontline.
“We just weren’t clinical enough,” Farmilo said.
That went for their attack as well.
“We held the ball too long and didn’t hold our width,” he said.
“Everyone’s just trying to get in and score a goal.”
Particularly in the second half, they took some poor options.
The first half they took their opportunities although across the whole game they still didn’t execute their penalty corners.
The first half was what cost Kiwis.
“The first half was a bit disappointing,” captain-coach Josh Worpel said.
“We started off a bit slow.”
And if you give Workies a head start they’ll hurt you, which they did.
“The second half was a lot better,” Worpel said.
“We spoke at half-time about working back hard and getting the strikers to move more.”
That paid dividends.
Working back, from the strikers to the defence, has been a big focus for them, and in the first half the strikers were a bit guilty of not applying enough pressure defensively.
The midfield was also more involved in the second half.
“When we get those midfield transfers happening it makes it a lot easier,” Worpel said.
They are steadily reducing the gap between them and Workies.
“4-2 was a lot better than the other games,” Worpel said.
“The first one was 8-4 and the last one 7-3.”
He thought their best were Luke Wilson at the back and Jack Watson and Craig Unger in the midfield.