Football: North Force Reserves put prems on notice

Mark Ruddell holds off a defender in North Force's Joma Pre Season hit-out against Hibiscus Coast. Photo / Tania Whyte

North Force player/coach Scott Burgess says the North Force Reserve side are "starting to knock on the door" of the premier men's team after they defeated Hibiscus Coast Reserves 3-1 in round two of the 2015 Joma Men's Federation Pre Season Tournament.

The North Force Premier team kicked off their round-two match against Hibiscus Coast with vigour but failed to match the success of their reserve team, going down 3-4.

Burgess says he is happy with North Force's build-up, but "a few disappointing things" let the prems side down in their closely contested match on Saturday.

"Our energy wasn't quite there in the last period.

"I don't think the score made a difference, we just got tired and didn't have enough energy to be into it," he says.

With home advantage, the North Force side were looking to better their one-point loss against the East Coast Bays development team in round one.

Burgess led from the front early, on scoring the first goal for North Force in the match, which featured three 30-minute sectors.

The scoreline was 1-1 at the end of the first spell, and a goal from Thomas Berry in the seconds gave North Force the edge at 2-1.

Inside the last period, Jason Teal got North Force up to speed with their third goal but a lack of enthusiasm and energy allowed Hibiscus Coast to slot a few soft shots into the net.

"It was a little bit concerning conceding four goals," Burgess says.

"The defensive part of our game changed partway through and some of them [opposition goals] were a bit soft."

Looking ahead to this weekend's match against Glenfield Rovers, Burgess is confident his team can better their performance: "Hopefully working on defence will transfer to our attack, it's just the little things we need to work on."

- North Force will play Glenfield Rovers on Saturday at QBE Stadium, Albany, 2pm kick-off.