“I THINK WHAT IT CAME DOWN TO TODAY WAS WE NEEDED TO BE A LITTLE MORE CLEANER, WE NEEDED TO BE A BIT MORE SHARPER AND TIGHTER IN DEFENCE.

That was despite being camped in good attacking area throughout the opening half and their domination of possession continued in the second, but yet again the Fury could not convert simple chances.

The death knell came in the 61st minute when shot- stopper Simon spilt a regulation take into the path of Carroll, who slotted his second of the match.

It was the fourth time in succession the Heat had ended Fury’s hopes of progressing to the next stage of the FFA Cup.

Fury stand- in coach Charlie Melville said the late change and the absence of head coach Paul Roncato made things difficult for his side but said it was no excuse for the poor performance.

“We had to put a guy back there that hadn’t played there for a while, but no excuses, at the end of the day you’ve got to put goals in the net and we didn’t do that,” he said.

“We actually had more possession than they did and we just didn’t make it count, and at the end of the day you have to, because most of these games now, teams are winning having less possession because it’s all about attack and scoring goals, and they did it and good luck to them.”

Injured Fury skipper Corey Waples said while his side could have made the most of their chances, there were still plenty of positives to take out of the game.

“I think what it came down to today was we needed to be a little more cleaner, we needed to be a bit more sharper and a bit more tighter in defence,” he said.

“They’re a good squad and it’s always a good battle with each other.

“We got the upper hand at the start of the year; they got us this time but we’ve got another game against them ... and we’ll make sure we get the win there.”

Waples said now the FFA Cup was off the table, the club could now focus on getting back on track in the NPL Queensland race.

“It’s a disappointing thing because it’s a great opportunity and it’s a good little step for the young players in particular, too, to get a look- in and draw that A- League team that everyone wants, but on the positive side we can just focus on the league.”