BRENDAN Fergie was the hero for OVA at Gunnedah on Saturday as they scraped through to keep hold of the Northern Inland Premier League Southern Conference lead.
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Fergie’s 80th-minute penalty strike was the difference as they prevailed 1-nil.
“Once we got used to being kicked around the park a bit we settled down,” Mushies coach Tim Coates said.
“We could have scored four or five and were lucky to get one.”
They had more than enough ball.
“We probably had 65 per cent of the possession. We just couldn’t get it in,” Coates said.
A few things contributed to that.
One, the Gunnedah defence, with Coates noting a brilliant save from keeper Pat Rankmore off an Adam Watson volley.
The at times blustery conditions didn’t help.
The pitch also looked like “it had had a lot of traffic on it” .
But they got the win, which is the important thing.
Coates thought Fergie was their best.
“Sam Higgins also had a very good game and Adam Watson battled hard,” he said.
“He was man-marked most of the game.”
That was a concerted tactic from Gunnedah knowing he was one of the dangermen.
“They were shirt-tight for 90 minutes,” Gunnedah coach Richard Grant said.
That went a long way to them keeping OVA at bay and being in the game.
Andrew Cameron did the job in the first half after playing 90 minutes in second grade, with Matt Chappell taking over the duties in the second.
Grant said Saturday was more about how they performed, not so much the result.
They’ve been struggling to get 22 on the park in two grades.
“We had a pretty handy side,” Grant said.
They only had three backing up but, even still, it probably did make a difference.
“In key points of the game we probably got a bit tired to go forward and make a difference,” he said.
There were long periods where the Mushies dominated, but they had some good passages.
They just couldn’t finish.
Still, Grant said they would take a lot out of it. It was a big improvement on recent weeks.
He said Rankmore did a good job in goals for them. He played seconds and then backed up for first grade.
“And Sam Hos was really dangerous.
“He’ll be a big threat in the semi-finals,” he said.
After returning from a three-week holiday, Jake Manley played two games for the second consecutive week and was also good for them.
