Stratford hold off challenge from ‘younger legs’
THE smarts of the seasoned footballer have made up for Stratford’s lack of fitness in a 2-1 win over a Innisfail United at Steve Corica Oval.
The home side was awarded an early penalty to the confusion of the Dolphins players and Cutters’ Cameron Epong made it count, before Ben Courtenay equalised later in the first half.
Stratford captain Joe Rusch then made sure of his side’s own penalty after an Innisfail player was nabbed for handball off a corner. But the winning goalscorer said the second half left much to be desired as the young legs of their adversaries started catching up and they even kept pushing after losing Angus Simpson to a red card.
“They got an early penalty which was a bit dubious, but we copped it on the chin and dominated the first half, and got a few goals back,” Rusch said.
“The second half was a lot more even and they came at us pretty hard and we’re a little bit unfit at the moment.
“To be honest we could have had a couple more goals in the first half which could have sealed it but it’s early season so we won’t go blaming anyone just yet.
“We’re a little rusty, but that’s to be expected.
“We’ve doing quite a lot of running this last couple of weeks with the ball, lots of small-sided games to get our touch right under pressure and few miles under the legs but last week we did go pretty hard and it probably took five or 10 minutes off our legs on the weekend.
Stratford play long-time rivals Mareeba this weekend and Rusch said although the Bulls were beaten 6-1 by Southside Comets, they would not be easy to shake.
Marlin Coast beat Leichhardt 1-0 in the other match.