Mitchell O’Keefe was the man of the moment for Oxley Vale Attunga at Harris Park on Saturday, his 89th minute glancing header earning the Mushies a 2-1 win over North Armidale.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The scoreline reflected what was a tight contest, Mushies coach Tim Coates describing the win as a “tradesmen-like”.
“We scored about a-minute before half time through Jake McGoldrick,” he said.
He was “johnny on the spot” to finish off some good lead-up work from James Bailey.
Norths came out pretty hard in the second half, Coates said, a mix-up at the back leading to a penalty which Declan Druitt converted to level the scores inside the first 10 minutes.
RELATED STORY:
From there the game ebbed and flowed.
“We sort of got the better of it, but couldn’t score. We wasted a couple of good opportunities,” Coates said.
It looked like they were headed for a draw until O’Keefe “popped up and snuck one home”.
Coates thought Bailey was their best in a midfield that “worked pretty hard”.
“He grafted pretty hard and turned the game our way and Will Menz caused them a few problems,” he said.
Eli O’Donnell and Cameron Skewes were also strong at the back.
One of the most pleasing aspects was the way they passed the ball around.
“Today we managed to string together 10, 12, 15 passes together at times,” Coates said.
“Not very often” he qualified, but it was better than previous games.
