Football: Goals continue to flow at Athletic

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Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic came away with the perfect result on Saturday, with a thumping 7-2 victory over third placed North End AFC in the Lotto Federation League.

Athletic travelled to Palmerston North and were welcomed by a typically sodden and gluggy Skoglund Park pitch.

These types of conditions didn't play into the favour of Athletic's typical possession-based style of play, where quick passing and moving is the key to success.

Athletic didn't let the poor pitch conditions ruin their intent, as they came out at the first whistle and controlled the pace and direction of the game.

The Reds were keen to move the ball about, and compensated for the pitch, showing the ability to adjust quicker than the home team did.

With the score sitting at 4-0 at half time, the Reds were showing that they were the hungrier of the two teams

The second stanza provided more of the same, but North End also came out from the break with their tails up, but it was ultimately not enough by the final whistle.

With just two crucial matches remaining in the season, Athletic look to be peaking just and are showing that they have shaken off the ghosts of their form in front of goal, finding the back of the net an astonishing 20 times in the last three games.

Troy Smith, player-coach of Athletic, was full of praise for his team's performance on the weekend.

"I feel we have peaked at the right time in the season. We are hitting the back of the net and we are playing beautiful football."

Steve Burnley, identified by Smith as the man of the match, was superb in showing his ability to push forward and create opportunities on attack, as well as diligently covering his defensive duties at the back.

The Reds are also starting to show the depth of their scoring ability, with Liam Roberts, Jordan Joblin-Hall and Anthony Bell each contributing two goals to the score line, while Josh Smith, not to be left out of the action, added a goal to his season tally as well.

Saturday's win was a result that was critically needed for the Reds at the pointy end of the league.

"We could win the league next week, but we are not getting ahead of ourselves," commented Smith, who was looking ahead to Team Taranaki's visit on Saturday. "We know the importance of next week and will prepare accordingly."