Norths United made the most of their opportunities in the first half to kick away to what proved to be a decisive half-time lead in their Northern Inland Premier League clash with North Companions on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Up 4-nil at the break, the Redmen held on to claim the points 4-2 and their first win in Tamworth for the season after going down to reigning champions Tamworth FC 2-nil and drawing 2-all with Oxley Vale Attunga.
"Quite happy to go to Tamworth and come away with the win," coach John Edmunds said.
He described it as a "strange game".
"We were up 4-nil at half-time but that was no indication of the game, it had been a very tough first half," he said.
"We just took our chances."
They pounced on a couple of errors in defence from Companions, Jake Davies finding the back of the net twice along with Jake McCann and Matt Fairleigh.
"We probably switched off a little bit in the second half," Edmunds said.
In saying that Companions played well in the second half.
They were never really worried though, he said.
READ ALSO:
Edmunds thought particularly in the first half their defence was very solid.
"We were able to push forward from there so when we did win the ball we had confidence going forward," he said.
"Declan Druitt and Harrison George were strong in the middle of the park winning a lot of ball."
With a lot of new faces, especially up front, it has taken a little while to gel together but Edmunds said he can see "it starting to come now".
"We're starting to get the goals," he said.
In their last two games they have put away 10.
He said McCann was "lively" up front in the first half.
The hockey star has come over from Easts this season to play alongside older brother Cody, a Norths stalwart, but has only played the one game so far due to his national championships commitments with the NSW under-18s hockey side.
Davies has also joined the club from Easts and was a real threat anytime he got the ball, Edmunds said.
It was a 'Jekyll and Hyde' performance from North Companions and "very painful" for coach Jackson Zifodya to watch, especially the first half.
"It was just schoolboy errors and they cost us the game," he said.
"[But] We live and learn."
"The good thing is the boys know the wrong things they did."
The positive was they were able to turn things around in the second half.
"I was very pleased with that, they didn't hang their heads and they tried to fight back, but the damage had been done," he said.
In the round's other fixtures, South Armidale hammered OVA 12-1 while Demon Knights accounted for East Armidale 6-2.
