Their attack still needs a lot of work but Gunnedah FC drew a lot positives from their defensive effort as they held Northern Inland Premier League champions Tamworth FC to just two goals in their Premier Division clash in Gunnedah on Saturday.
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The 2-nil scoreline was a reflection on what was "a big improvement" on their first round showing against Oxley Vale Attunga, especially defensively coach Andy Cygan said.
"The two goals they scored were brilliant crosses from the sideline and good headers," he said.
There wasn't a lot they could really do about them. Unlike the previous week where they were getting beaten one-on-one in the box.
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"We showed a lot more effort," Cygan said.
"Maybe we were given a bit of a wake-up last week."
They were also a lot more physical.
Some positional changes also seemed to make a difference.
"We dropped Matt Daley back into centre defence with Matt Davis," Cygan said.
"It just gave is a bit more pace back there."
"He was able to clear things up and was good there."
He noted that Tom Crumbley was also "brilliant" in goal stepping up from reserve grade with Paul Webster away.
They even drew praise from their opposition for their effort.
"Tamworth said we did well," Cygan said.
He would have liked to have though seen a bit more from them in attack. They didn't create a lot of opportunities he said, conceding that they need to get a bit more punch up front.
But it is hard to work on attacking structures when players aren't coming to training. Some of it is unavoidable, but he would like to see more first graders at training.
They've been getting around 20 players but they're mostly reserve grade, he said.
They (reserve grade) had a good win on Saturday.
In what was new coach Atilla Yigman's first game in charge, they won 4-1 on the back of a double to Blake Whitfield.
Cygan said it was a strong result.
"We were unlucky the first week (they went down to the Mushies 2-nil)," he said.
"We'll have some good games with reserves again and I hope first grade we can take a few points."
Things should get a bit easier for them after North Companions this week after drawing the three existing Premier League teams in the opening three rounds.