The Kempsey Saints fought hard until the final whistle but weren’t able to crack the Taree Wildcats defence as they suffered a 2-0 defeat in an elimination final on Saturday.
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The curtain closes on Saints’ season but coach Kevin Sinclair was pleased with the improvement his side made over the past 12-months.
“This year has been positive, we got further than we ever have in the FFA Cup, we reached the finals and our players have all developed,” Sinclair said.
Despite the success, Sinclair acknowledged the side needs to take another step to compete against the top three sides in the Football Mid North Coast Premier League competition.
“We are still searching for our first win in a finals match, it’s the fourth time we have been eliminated in the first week of the finals,” Sinclair said.
“We weren’t able to match it with the top three sides this year and that’s something we will need to address heading into next year.
“Consistency will be the key, we struggled to string good performances together.”
Saints started the elimination final with Taree on the front foot and were pressuring their opponents’ defensive line.
However, a costly turnover resulted in a goal against the run of play and it gave the Wildcats the momentum.
The Saints remained in the fight until the final 10-minutes, as a controversial penalty was awarded to Taree and they doubled their advantage.
“Troy Ward was shielding the ball and was nudged and fell onto the ball with his hand and the referee awarded a penalty for hand ball,” Sinclair said.
“We though it could have been a free kick our way but these things happen, there’s no sour grapes from us.
“Credit to the Taree side, they defended well all game.”
Kempsey will remain in the fight for a premiership in the senior competition as their reserve grade side thumped Taree 7-1 earlier in the day.
The Saints are the defending champions in the reserve grade competition.
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