NORTHERN FURY READY FOR FIRE REDEMPTION
A VASTLY improved second half performance last round has given Northern Fury coach Ian Ferguson hope ahead of his side’s clash with the Sunshine Coast Fire at Sunshine Coast Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
The Fury were beaten 3- 1 by Redlands United last week but their impressive play in the final 45 minutes left their coach with plenty of positives to take out of the loss.
After a fast start to the NPL Queensland season the Fury have struggled in recent weeks, winning just one of their last four outings, but Ferguson believed his squad were close to returning to top form.
“I was really pleased with the boys last week, particularly in the second half and I felt as though for the first time in a long time we started doing what we did well in our first five or six games,” he said. “We started playing football again, we retained the ball well, we tried to hurt them in certain areas and we just needed that little bit more penetration in certain areas.
“Hopefully we’ve given the boys enough information and worked on a few things this week where we can retain the ball well and really take it to the Sunshine Coast.”
Season ending injuries to a number of regular starters has seen Ferguson bring up a number of younger players into the NPL setup, with their exposure to the top flight being invaluable to their development as senior players.
While impressed with the input of some of his more youthful squad members Ferguson said he needed to see more consistency from all members of his team.
“Some of the young kids have come in and showed me that they can do it for one game but now I need to see them do it for five, six games,” he said.
“Dale Motti, Tristan Russell, Hamish Cassady, they are doing quite well at the moment so hopefully they’ll continue to give us what we need.
“We’ve only had about four or five players who have been consistent throughout the season and we need to have 15.”