The Riverina Rhinos are still searching for their second win of the season following a 3-0 loss to Gungahlin United on Saturday.
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The Riverina side was able to hold out the home team for much of the first half and Mitchell Woods kept his clean sheet intact saving a penalty before the break.
Unfortunately for the Rhinos, Gungahlin came into the second half with a purpose and after being awarded their second penalty for the day six minutes after the break.
Woods wasn’t able to save his side this time around and Gungahlin made the most of their second-half start.
Assistant coach Gabriel Abdala said his side came up against a well-drilled team.
“You can tell by their style of play that they do work on that,” he said
“The way they maintain the ball is very good.”
The home side kept their momentum rolling as within 10 minutes they had doubled their lead through another set piece opportunity.
With the Rhinos working hard to keep United at bay they eventually found their way to go.
With tiring legs, Gungahlin made the most as they played the ball in behind the defence which was pounced on by their attackers to secure the 3-0 win.
Despite the result, Abdala said there was much his side could take away from the game.
“The fact that we did attempt to play we did create opportunities to score,” he said.
“Unfortunately it was two set pieces and one play at the end that got us.
“Obviously week in week out we come out looking for the three points.
“Unfortunately we didn't come away with the win.”
The side is about to enter their busiest period since they moved to Canberra.
They are scheduled to play their next game in the FFA Cup when they take on Tuggeranong United in the coming weeks.
The game will be played midweek meaning the team will have two short turnarounds in between games.
Despite this Abdala, is confident in the systems the team has in place.
“We do have very strong injury prevention in place with the way that we warm up and the way that we cool down,” he said.
“Everything in places works in order to be able to got through those heavy loads of training.
“I feel as though we are ready for this heavy load and hopefully we can get the results that we are after.”
In the other divisions, the Rhinos picked up a mixed bag of results.
In the under 14s and under 18s the sides picked up a 1-0 and 2-1 win respectively.
The under 20s and under 13s were less successful falling to 2-0 and 2-1 losses respectively.