It would do well for the Bay centre-mids, responsible for distributing balls to ensure the collective are forever on the front foot as their primary motive, to make a mental note of that if the franchise is to go a step further in making the O-League class, if not lifting the ASB Premiership crown.
They need to get rid off the one-touch-too-many, dancing-with-the-stars twitches and Bay United will immediately add value to their worth in the ASB Premiership this summer.
That is not to devalue yesterday's victory at Bluewater Stadium, Park Island, which puts the Finlay Milne-captained hosts with the undefeated premiership campaigners, Auckland City and Canterbury United.
Bay United have a predominantly new outfit and deserve to have some time to tinker and tweak to find a modicum of cohesiveness but some facets of play should come instinctively.
For argument's sake, players who surge into the stock exchange area to score or create opportunities need to be mindful that when they have hit the goal line and the angle is acute then they need to cut the ball back 45 degrees rather than threading it through the eye of a needle.
Taking blinkers off to switch play when traffic starts looking like Kennedy Rd-George's Dr intersection at peak hour would also make life easier.
Needless to say, the Bay should have found the net several more times but chances went begging.
"We created quite a few chances but should have scored more," said Milne, who withdrew in the first half after tweaking his hamstring.
"We're a pretty new group so we're probably a couple of weeks away from nailing down things to where we want them because we'res till building that chemistry."
In fairness to the Mike Fridge-coached visitors, they also blew a couple of sitters in the first half on a balmy, windswept day.
Southern skipper Seamus Ryder said it was always difficult finding a result in the Bay, especially in the heat.
"I still think we could have put away a few chances in the first half and we didn't so we paid for it," Ryder lamented.
In the ninth minute, Bay United striker Hamish Watson should have opened their account but Southern counterpart Andrew Mobberely should have done better from point-blank range in front of the goal mouth in the 17th minute as well.
Fabien Kurimati drew first blood for the hosts in the 27th minute, after some promising moves earlier had evaporated. The midfielder latched on to a freekick deflection to crisply push it past goalkeeper Tom Batty on the far post.
The game halted briefly as Bay defender Sean Liddicoat went down in a head collision that would have prompted a concussion test in other codes but play resumed a couple of minutes later.
Eight minutes into the second half Sam Mason-Smith extended the lead to 2-0, after a deft heel from look-alike striker Watson in the box although the latter seems to have lost his killer instinct with his weight. Mason-Smith cut it deftly around the keeper to the far post akin to a golfer's educated putt.
Rightback Kohei Matsumoto made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute after working in tandem with Kurimati.
The Bay's next game kicks off at 7.35pm against WaiBOP United on Thursday in a televised game from Taupo.
"They've started really well and we're aware of that so it'll be a big game for us," Milne said of WaiBOP who would be without TSB Bank Napier City Rovers player Ryan Tinsley who was hobbling around in crutches as a spectator at Park Island yesterday.
"Ryan's a quality player but they also played well with another one," he said of WaiBOP who are fast assuming the mantle of giant killers after thumping Waitakere United 5-1.
The Bay's next appearance at home is on Sunday, December 6, against the Dragons, who beat Team Wellington 2-1 yesterday in Christchurch after referee Chris Kerr gave Luis Corrales an early shower with 12 minutes remaining.
Rovers striker Angus Kilkolly scored for the hosts after the visitors gifted them an own goal while Wellington captain Cole Peverley pulled one back in the 94th-minute penalty in what frankly is an unconvincing start to their premiership.
In the other game, Auckland City beat Wellington Phoenix 3-1 at Newtown Park, yesterday.
