Tara Murray
Sydenham Park needs to tighten up its defence in the FV state league 1 north-west competition.
One of the favourites heading into the season, the Reds were sitting in third sport against six rounds, having been in every match.
Coach Goran Lozanovski said it had been a solid start for the side. It could have been better had the club not been stripped points after winning in round one.
“Technically we still haven’t lost a game,” he said. “We lost round one on a technically.
“We’ve dropped a few points in the last few weeks. To win this competition we have to beat everyone around us.”
Lozanovski said that they still had plenty of areas to work on as the season progresses. He said getting some consistency in the defence end was one of those they were really focusing on.
“We’re scoring goals, but we’ve conceded some sloppy goals in the last couple of weeks. We need to straighten up our defence.
“When we concede a goal we need to make sure that it’s not more than one. We can definitely get better, we’re getting enough scoring chances.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement.
Lozanovski said part of the defensive improvement will come as the group starts to play more games together.
He said unavailability was part of the problem when trying to get the best out of the group.
“We had three guys out last week against Corio,” he said. “They were back on board last week, but after a week and half away, you can still be a bit in holiday mode.”
The Reds were set to be back in action against Westgate on Saturday, after deadline.
Westgate is the early leaders of the competition, with four wins and two draws in the first six matches.
Sydenham came away with the points, winning 3-2.
Lozanovski said before the game that they were really looking forward to challenge against a side that had got off to a flyer.
“I think the reality for us is when everyone plays Sydenham, it’s a big game for them,” he said.
“We’re up for the fight and a good game. It’s like a grand final for us every week, there’s no easy game for us.”
