Comets on course for elusive top-four finish
SOUTHSIDE’S newly discovered resilience may well be the key to making it the dark horse in the run to the FNQ Premier League finals.
Last year’s wooden-spooners have turned their poor start around through two wins in as many weeks, putting away eight goals as they roared to a share of fourth on the ladder.
Goal difference has the Edmonton club in fifth behind Mareeba United, but recent form has proved Southside may well be on its way back to the pointy end. It is difficult to read too much into the dominant 4-0 win against a winless Marlin Coast side struggling for confidence and form, but Comets coach Chris Collins learned plenty about his men throughout that 90-minute period.
They were without on-field leader Dylan Soares and striker Darren Wickenden — the latter potentially out for the season — and a few personnel changes meant young midfielder Jack Carr slotted into the defensive unit.
While Carr has been solid in his first few outings, the shift to centre back meant the lifelong midfielder had to ignore his instinct and stick to the task — which he did, for the most part.
“We had two ball-playing centre backs with he and Casey (Agnew), which was good except when things didn’t go our way, Jack tried to play forward a bit too much so we had to remind him to stay back,” Collins said.
“But he did the job for us.” Finishing practice may again be on the cards for the Comets after they missed a series of shots in the first half, turning what “should have been a 6-0 lead at half time” into a one-goal advantage. A renewed and recalibrated Comets took the field in the second stanza, as they scored three more and kept their first clean sheet of the season — young goalkeeper Billy Holiday’s first in two years in the Premier League competition.
That clean sheet could be a confidence builder for a Comets outfit intent on not only continuing the development of their young players but also determined to make the top four.
“Billy’s kept us in a number of games this year,” Collins said.
“Things are looking a lot better now. We are a lot more resilient now, though we lack some football maturity when things don’t go our way.”
Edge Hill United battled through their toughest test of the season to date in their 3-1 win against Mareeba United.
A groin injury to former ALeague midfielder Wayne Srhoj will have Bulls’ coaches nervous as they head into a clash with the Comets this Sunday evening.
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