Heat on United for loss to Bay
THEIR preparation was far from perfect but North Queensland United coach Michael Brooks says they must stop making excuses for their defensive frailties after a 4- 2 road loss to Moreton Bay on Saturday.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Townsville but the city’s big wet forced the fixture to be transferred south.
It meant a handful of NQU players who had locked in work commitments were unavailable, forcing Brooks to revamp his defensive set- up.
They were also unable to train outside for the majority of the lead- up, but Brooks said they must address the silly mistakes that are handing goals to teams on a platter.
“The first half was 1- 0 and all the goals they scored came from us making rather soft and silly mistakes, which they punished quite ruthlessly,” Brooks said.
“Other than that we were quite solid, we kept our shape well and without those mistakes we really could have got something from the game.
“Our structure was quite good defensively but when you make silly mistakes they come at you so quick and you don’t have time to react.”
After winning their first two games NQU has conceded 10 goals in their past two matches, albeit against Western Pride and Moreton Bay teams tipped to challenge for the top four.
Moreton Bay led 1- 0 at halftime but goals to Rhys GwynnJones and Chom Arop in the 53rd and 75th minutes sealed all three points.
NQU scored two late goals through Jarrod Green and Matthew Richards, but it was too little, too late.
“We could only go down there with 14 players because of work commitments. Everyone put in a really good shift considering,” Brooks said.
“But at the end of the day we’ve got to stop making excuses for why we’re conceding so many goals and just stop them ... Moreton Bay are predicted to be a top- four team and we proved if we play right and we’re disciplined, we can match them.”
NQU will play another road game against Toowoomba side South- West Queensland Thunder on Saturday.
MORETON BAY 4 ( M. Richards 26 ( OG) R. GwynnJones 53 C. Arop 75 B. Fox 90+ 1) d NORTH QLD UTD 2 ( M Richards 84, J Green 90+ 2)