SOCCER - Force stay positive despite loss

North Force Technical Director Dean Wheatley says his side is still in good spirits despite breaking a three-game winning streak with a discouraging 3-5 defeat by rivals Three Kings on Saturday.
Wheatley blamed the loss on poor finishing and some below-par defending but said there were plenty of good things to take from the match.
"We don't do doom and gloom here ... generally we feel we are playing very well, but we need to find an answer to our lack of finishing. This team is still a work in progress," he said.
"We created so many chances, it was unreal. We just ripped them apart going forward, but we just couldn't score, and then we did some sloppy defending and we conceded goals when we shouldn't have."
North Force conceded early goals and were 2-1 down at halftime at Keith Hay Park in Auckland.
Sammy Oso equalised with his second goal in the first minute of the second half, and while North Force pressed to take the lead, they were punished for indecisiveness in defence and went 3-2 down against the run of play. The home side scored again to double their lead before a wonder strike from 30 metres made it 5-2.
A goal to Scott Burgess saw North Force edge back into the game but frustration crept into their play once more as they failed to finish chances that might have seen them pick up a point from the match.
"Really we should have killed the game off in the first half. We were creating some unreal chances with some very good play but we couldn't put them away and that's a major problem were having at the moment," Wheatley said.
North Force have made it a habit of missing good scoring opportunities in their last two outings against Ngaruawahia and Papakura, but the difference on Saturday was that their opposition were able to find the net.
Wheatley said the side was still inexperienced at this level, but for all their naivety they remain in the mix with eight matches of the Northern Federation first division competition still to play.
Fortunately, some of the other teams competing for promotion also had bad weekends. Mt Albert lost 1-4 to Melville United, while Metro could only manage a 0-0 draw with Papatoetoe.
Wheatley said Burgess, replacing the suspended Steve Schimmel, had played very well in the centre of the midfield before pushing up in search of second half goals but Schimmel had certainly been missed. "He's a quality player and he was gutted not to be playing today," Wheatley said.
The Reserves lost 2-1 but had two goals disallowed and Perkins is more than happy with their progress this season.
"We're never too concerned about their results. It's the way that they are developing and learning that's important, and they're doing well there," he said.
FC Whangarei are the only team still alive in the main draw of the Federation Cup with a sound 2-1 win over Hibiscus Coast in Orewa.
Kaikohe and Kamo were also on the road in the Federation Cup competition on Saturday but the teams went down to Waitamate (3-2) and Warkworth (5-1) respectively.