The Suns fell 2-0 at the hands of a facelifted Manningham United Blues on Saturday, missing a litany of chances in the final third for the home record to now sit at a 4-2 negative — but they still remain in fourth.
While that silver lining is certainly apparent, coach Craig Carley cited his side's clinical ability — or lack of — could continue to hamper their progress as the season’s business end draws closer.
“For me the game was lost with us not taking our chances — I was relatively happy with how we played,” Carley said.
“We started a bit slow, but certainly dominated the game after the first 10-15 minutes.
“The boys all worked hard and no-one can fault their efforts or application, but if you don’t take your chances then you won’t win games.”
The Suns suffered the worst possible start, falling behind after six minutes.
Manningham caught the host flat-footed and worked the ball out left smartly, allowing Franc Carafa space to finish his one-on-one chance with aplomb.
But that’s as powerful a punch the Blues packed for the first half’s remainder.
The Suns monopolised possession and drove forward with liquid precision, but simply could not trouble the keeper.
Sean Grant began a fleeting counter with a pinpoint pass off the outside of his foot, ghosting in at the back post to glance his header just wide of the mark.
He was at it again mere moments before the break, seeing his headed effort whistle the wrong side of the post once more.
Then, with less than 20 minutes left to play, Vani Shamoon gambled on a long ball and looked to have lobbed the keeper for 1-1.
The stands stood up, but sat back down again almost immediately as the ball skipped off the surface and past the post.
No less than a minute later, it was 2-0.
Manningham bolted up the other end via a smart counter, with Carafa twisting the knife to leave the Suns ruing their noticeable bluntness in the danger area.
“Going forward we need to start being ruthless in front of goal,” Carley said.
“It’s no secret we are not scoring enough goals, but I felt we had enough chances in the game to win and the boys recognise that.”
● It was all smiles in the earlier contests though, as Tuta Taya’s strike powered the under-19s to a 1-0 win, while the under-21s fought out a 3-1 result.
Luke Burns, Willie Sauiluma and Ben Smith were the scorers for Roven Shaholli’s charges.
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