R18 Wrap: MetroStars v Raiders
MetroStars just needed the single goal to secure victory against Raiders despite being on the back foot for large amounts of the game in Saturday’s Round 18 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia.
The deadlock was broken four minutes before the half time whistle with Perry Mitris getting the decisive winner.
Goalkeeper Daniel Godley said despite getting the goal the main aim was to keep a clean sheet going into the break.
“We needed to sure up the defence and go in with no goals against was more the aim.”
Despite playing well before going a goal down, Raiders man Daniel Pritchard was hoping the fortunes would change in the second half.
“We were playing pretty well in the first half, I thought we were a bit unlucky to concede the goal.”
“We just had to regroup at half-time and keep going how we were and always thought we could get a result but didn’t happen at the end.
The shot-stopper was blown away by the ridiculous pace and relentless pressure they were under after the break.
“The majority of the second half we just copped wave after wave of attacks from very good players.”
In the end nothing was telling and although not being able to take a decent result, Pritchard remained pleased with his side’s performance.
“We couldn’t do too much more to get a result in the end. We were creating chances, playing well but it won’t dampen the mood that much.”
However he feels his team is yet again victim to rueing chances on goal and attributed the crushing defeat to the lack of clinical finishing.
“At the end of the day you can keep the ball and play well but you need to put the ball in the net and that’s been the story of our season so far.”
Goodley believes the attitude to being under such pressure was key to grinding out the game in the end.
“The fact that things didn’t go our way and we didn’t play one of our best games, we still dug our heels in and managed to get out of there without conceding any goals.
“To pick up three points when you don’t play well is usually how you go about finishing high up the ladder.”
Despite the loss, the Raiders number 4 took positives away from the defeat.
“Besides that one goal we did defend well, created chances and kept most of the possession which let us control the game.”
Article by Andrew Lodiong - @Andrew_Lodiong
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