Tamworth coach Peter Burke was "far from satisfied" despite the Magpies' 48-29 victory over St Albert's at Rugby Park on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Magpies led 26-22 at half-time, before they tightened their defence in the second half and skipped away.
"We won the game. And don't get me wrong, I am really happy about that," Burke said.
"I am just a bit frustrated with the amount of penalties we gave away.
"What I said at half-time was that we needed to be more disciplined and lower our penalty count.
"I think a lot of those penalties are avoidable and that's certainly something that we will look at going forward.
"I suppose my overall message is, it was a good win but we are nowhere near satisfied."
Read Also:
After Harry Morrow went down in the opening minutes with a suspected collarbone injury, Billy Urquhart stepped into the halfback role for Magpies and had an immediate impact, helping to set up a try for winger Harry Snook.
"Billy played in both second grade and first grade, which is a credit to him," Burke said.
"When you're thrown into that arena and given the game is played at a fast pace, he really stood up.
"I also thought Darcy Barker was fantastic for us.
"I'm not sure if he [Barker] will get our three points today, but he will certainly be in the conversation."
Burke said the defensive work of Joe Evans, Issac Woodbury and Blake Clout was crucial to the side's victory.
"Joey is Mr Consistent for us," he said.
"His ability to crack the line and get us moving forward is just second to none, and without that I doubt we would be winning games.
"I liked Issac's defence, which he brings from league. He comes up, cuts them off and hits them hard.
"Today he wasn't doing it early and they got past him a couple of times, but after that he turned it on for us."
The Magpies will now turn their attention to a top-of-the-table clash against Robb College on July 6.
"There was a lot for us to learn from this game and we will keep tinkering with our game going forward," Burke said.
"I'm not sure, but I think this win guarantees us a top two finish, which is great, but we are still a fair way from where we want to be."