Unrewarding encounters for teams

MEETING MINDS: Havelock North's Tui Kennedy collides in midair with Athletic's Jordan Gilmore at Wembley Park on Saturday. PHOTO/LEWIS GARDNER

AFTER MUCH fanfare heralding Wanganui Athletic's return to the Lotto Federation League as the only local club playing in premier competitions this season, Saturday's double-digit losses for both of the 1sts and Reserves can only be described as disappointing, if not just short of embarrassing.

Twelve unanswered goals were put beyond the Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic 1sts at Wembley Park as they struggled to find any sort of foothold in the match against a well-prepared and determined Havelock North.

First team coach Peter Flood was critical in his analysis.

"It was quite hard to watch to be honest.

"When we went four goals down in the opening 10 minutes of play, it was always going to be hard to get ourselves back in the game. It was the basics that let us down, things like sloppy passing, and being caught on the break. I think we gifted them about eight goals in the first half alone."

The Reds would have been dreading the halftime talk from the coach, and Flood didn't let on too much about what was said.

"We had a staunch talk to each other at halftime. We had to look at ourselves and where we were going wrong."

The second half brought little reprise from Havelock's onslaught beginning with a silly mistake costing Athletic a penalty within the first five minutes, which was ultimately converted, registering the first of four goals in the second stanza.

Any moments of solid play were ultimately let down by poor ball control, and what was a clear lack of experience and preparation for the step up to the Federation League.

Flood was also realistic after looking back at the game.

"I wasn't happy watching, and a lot of the spectators on the sidelines weren't either. It really was an eye-opener. Only having about three or four preseason games really hurt us.

"I'm a bit lost for words. But we'll get together on Tuesday at training and have a discussion as to where to from here. We're not going anywhere, we've got some things we can work on, and hopefully we'll have a couple of experienced imports coming over soon who might help us out."

Athletic's club president Peter James was also honest in his assessment of his first team's performance on the weekend.

"Their fitness was simply too poor for that level. That, along with a poor pre-season build up and game time together really showed out there.

"The basic skill level was missing on the day, and at this level, if you make mistakes like they did, you'll be punished."

Athletic will have a lot of work to do before the coming weekend's trip north to Yarrow Stadium to take on last year's champions Team Taranaki.

In the Western Premiership match between the Athletic Reserves and the Red Sox A's, there wasn't much more positive outcomes as the young red reserve side learnt a hard lesson in what the competition was going to be like for them during the season.

The unbridled enthusiasm and raw skill of the team was not enough to stem the common theme of sloppy play and poor attacking and defensive efforts, leading the Red Sox to walk away with a 10-0 scoreline at the final whistle.

It appeared the younger players were not quite ready for the physicality of the team they were up against, with many standing off their opposites when pressure needed to be applied.

This mentality will be critical to overcome should the Reserves look to set in motion their development this season.

The task does not get any easier for the Reserves as they travel to Donnelly Park next weekend to take on the Levin AFC 1sts " a notoriously physical team that will try to muscle the young side out of the game if they haven't worked out an answer in a short space of time.