TAREE'S unbeaten run in the Football Mid North Coast Southern League men's competition came to an end when they were upset 2-1 by Great Lakes in the game at Boronia Park.
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The Wildcats were disappointing, coach Ben Sedlen said.
"We should have won that game,'' Sedlen lamented.
"We let ourselves down with sloppy defending and a lack of concentration.''
Last year Taree finished among the alsorans, however, have been bolstered by a number of former Old Bar players who joined the Wildcats when their club failed to form a team.
"We started off okay against Great Lakes, but we didn't play very well to be honest,'' Sedlen continued.
Pressure
"They put a bit of pressure on us and we went to water. We need to fix that up.''
He conceded the Wildcats may have been complacent after Great Lakes had experienced an indifferent start to the season.
"We have a certain way we're trying to play but as soon as they put us under pressure we went back to the way of the old Taree - kicking the ball long and not trying to play the game properly,'' Sedlen said.
Goalkeeper Steve McInyre was outstanding for Taree.
"He's a bit of a reluctant keeper, but he's a calm head at the back and is doing a good job,'' Sedlen said.
Jake Dawson and Carl Ashworth were solid.
"But we have to find the confidence to pass the ball when we're in trouble instead of just kicking it. We do it in patches but not the whole game.''
Sedlen expects the competition to be hard fought this year.
"If we can put it together we'll be able to match it with any of them,'' he said.
Sedlen pointed out that the Wildcats were without nine regulars as the game was on the long weekend.
"But we do struggle to create chances against the better teams. We only scored one against Great Lakes and one against Tuncurry the week before,'' he said.
Wingham benchmark
Sedlen said two-time premiers Wingham remain the benchmark while Tuncurry-Forster and Great Lakes will be thereabouts. Taree, Gloucester and Tuncurry-Forster Gold are locked on 13 points on top of the ladder, with Wingham a further point away.
Sedlen conceded that the rain and resulting disruptions are causing all teams problems.
"We haven't trained for a month due to the rain and our field being closed,'' he said.
"It's hard to get rhythm going, playing one week and then having two off.''
The Wildcats have two catch-up games to make up, against Wingham and Gloucester.
"The entire round was washed out when we were supposed to play Gloucester, so Football Mid North Coast might cancel the whole round,'' he said.