YOOGALI Soccer Club has come crashing down to earth after a “quicker, sharper, smarter” Cobram Soccer Club disposed of them in clinical fashion during a 4-0 thrashing at EW Moore Oval on Saturday night.
After two good wins, YSC coach Ryan Spencer said the side was confident of presenting a challenge to the Regional Premier League heavyweights.
But after YSC conceded a soft goal in the first 20 minutes of the game, the dominance of the Tigers was soon obvious.
“They were too quick, too smart and we never got going at all,” Spencer said.
“They were just better than us across the pitch the whole night.”
Making YSC pay for every mistake, Cobram grabbed another goal just before half-time, but the men in blue and yellow refused to give up.
“For the first 15 to 20 minutes we were going all right but then they scored a soft goal – we conceded some soft goals during the game,” Spencer said.
“They got another one just before half-time but we were still in the game.
“In the second half we came out strong and we started pressuring them higher up the pitch and had a couple of chances.”
But a “lucky” goal to the Tigers was the final nail in YSC’s coffin and the squad knew they would never make such a massive comeback against such a strong side.
“That lucky goal just broke our backs,” Spencer said.
“It knocked the stuffing out of us.
“They’re a quality team and when you give them that much room they’ll take advantage of it – we just never got going and they were quicker, shaper and smarter than us.
“They were too good for us on the night and we didn’t perform to where we know we can.”
Spencer said Cobram took advantage of the fact YSC were yet to put a consistent side on the paddock
due to injury this year, and the visitors exploited the resulting weaknesses.
“A few of the guys were playing with chest infections and never had the “engine” in them and we took some risks with some of the other guys and we got found out,” he said.
“We had a rough night and we’ve got to get back to working on basics and working defensively as a team.”
Spencer praised the efforts of Grant Davidson, George Hancock and Chris Angus during the match.
