AFTER stinging Tamworth FC on Sunday, South Armidale now have their sights on North Armidale as they look to continue their FFA Cup run.
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The Scorpions were the best Northern Inland performers in the nationwide competition last year, making it to the final eight in Northern NSW.
On Sunday they accounted for FC 2-nil to kick their way into the third round and set up an all-Armidale battle after Norths had dispatched of Oxley Vale Attunga the previous day.
For the Scorpions, Sunday’s win followed a 3-1 first-round win over TAS, and returning captain-coach Ben Wright was happy with what he saw from his side in what were hot conditions.
“We held onto the ball well and we took the chances that we had,” Wright said.
The good ones anyway.
Jake Pamment opened the scoring about 10 minutes in off a well-struck free kick from about 30 to 40 yards out.
“That got us on a bit of a roll and we held the ball well and knocked it around,” Wright said.
Jaime Wright extended their lead with about 15 minutes to go in the first half.
“It was a great solo effort,” Wright said, Wright finishing it by chipping the keeper.
Once they got that two-goal buffer, Ben Wright said they knew that all they had to really do was hold the ball and knock it around.
He said FC didn’t really trouble them too much but, when they did, the defence was up to the mark.
He was out there in the thick of it and thought they gelled well.
Their movement off the ball was also fantastic.
He couldn’t single out any standouts.
“It was a good allround team performance,” he said.
FC coach Ben Davis expressed similar thoughts about his side’s efforts.
“It was a good team performance,” he said.
“If the boys can all stick together there are some good signs there.”
The result didn’t go their way but Davis wasn’t too disappointed.
“It’s nearly 65 per cent a new team,” he said. “That was sort of our first game together.
“It was always going to take a game until we worked out what we are doing.”
Still, he was a bit surprised how well they came together.
“The second half was a pretty good half,” he said.
“We kept more possession than they did.”
They just weren’t able to turn it into goals.
But Davis was encouraged by the way they held the ball.
“We kept the ball and knocked the ball around, which is something we wanted to work on,” he said.
