Casey’s Paul Presti was a hard man to beat one-on-one but the same could not be said of his team who coughed up a 1-0 loss to Heatherton. 67525 Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Gavin Staindl
IT IS risky, and at times questionable, but the coach of Berwick City will not curb his side’s attacking instincts, despite dropping three games in four weeks.
Berwick is preparing to host front-runners Old Scotch tomorrow night, but Tom O’Halloran is adamant his team will not be satisfied with one point.
“We want to win,” O’Halloran said.
“Conceding and playing defensive does not promote the game and it doesn’t win you matches.”
Questions about O’Halloran’s aggressive game style arose after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Nunawading, where he ordered Berwick to press forward despite losing a man to a red card.
Berwick dominated the opening half an hour, creating many scoring chances – including a missed penalty – but when midfielder James Ashby was sent off for consecutive yellow cards, Nunawading began to play itself back in the match.
O’Halloran conceded at half time that his team should be “four or five goals ahead”, instead they faced an uphill battle to secure the three points.
A defensive blunder opened the scoring for Nunawading and the game was put to bed shortly after when Berwick, pressing for the equaliser, was beaten on the counter attack.
It was a sour pill to swallow for O’Halloran, who couldn’t believe the amount of chances that were not finished off.
“We are so clinical going forward and creating chances, but we just struggle to convert,” he said.
“We are now in a relegation battle, but I’m not one to sit back and invite the opposition on top of us … we’ll keep looking to score.”
MEANWHILE, Doveton can sympathise with Berwick after the Doves dropped their third successive game with a 3-2 loss to Kingston City.
Doveton conceded late in the day to fall three places on the Division Three ladder.
In Division Two, the Casey Comets are ruing a missed opportunity, after going down 1-0 to cellar-dwellers Heatherton United.
In their previous meeting, Casey recorded an emphatic 6-0 win but a goal in the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s away match gave Heatherton its third win of the year.
Provisional Two side Endeavour United staked its claim for promotion, knocking off Old Carey 3-2 at Carey Sports Complex.
After a disastrous start to the year, United has streaked to second on the ladder, while the Casey Kings have dropped to last.
Their standings were not helped by Saturday’s 2-0 loss Seaford United at North Seaford Reserve.
