Warriors woeful in five-goal defeat
NORTH Geelong coach Luciano Trani says basic skills let his side down, as the Warriors fell to Melbourne City 6-1 in a forgettable performance on Saturday.
It was the Warriors’ second considerable loss in three weeks, with consistency and mindset now becoming issues for the side.
“We were second to the contest all day, our timing wasn’t quite right and we just found it difficult to deal with the movement and the ball speed across the whole course of the game,” Trani said.
“To their credit, they (City) obviously had some very talented players out there that made the game look very easy.
“We were just trying to contain rather than focus on the attacking side of it because we were turning it over so often.”
City made the most of its early dominance, scoring two goals within 20 minutes, removing much of the heat out of the game.
The Warriors seemed over- awed by the slick ball movement and offensive runs of the talented City side, forcing North Geelong to clear out of defence rather than build play out from the back.
A glimmer of hope came late in the first half when the Warriors started to gain significant momentum as they cleaned up their turnovers and lifted their defensive pressure.
Darius Madison had the chance to reduce the deficit however his glancing header on the stroke of half-time agonisingly missed.
“We had a few chances and if we probably scored one of those chances it might have given us a bit of hope around that second half,” Trani said.
City gained the ascendancy back after half-time before scoring two more goals as the Warriors struggled to contain City’s offensive weapons.
Warriors substitute Thomas Hidic scored a consolation goal after an errant clearance, however the damage was already done.
A wonder strike from City captain Denis Genreau capped off its sixth and final goal as the ball soared past keeper Marko Stevanja, who put in a gallant performance.
Trani said his players had to look at their own preparation in order to add the level of consistency needed when coming up against a quality opponent.
“It’s about the players themselves, having to prepare and make sure they’re ready with the same motivation and drive to be consistent, that’s the key,” he said.
“They’re young players and at some point they have to take that on and develop that into their game.
In more unfortunate news for the Warriors, winger Nick Teichmann was sent to hospital after copping a knee to the lower back/kidney area in a corner contest. Teichmann was looking visibly distressed on the sidelines after he was substituted off before halftime with no immediate update on his condition.