Frustrated Tuggeranong United FC coach Mitch Stevens said simply playing good soccer wasn't good enough as the club's winless campaign continued on Saturday.
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United looked a chance of securing its first win with the scores level at 1-1 against West Canberra Wanderers FC at half-time and the home side down to 10 men. However, it fell apart for United in the second half in a 5-1 drubbing.
Newly kitted up Wanderer Michael Manseh found the ball at his feet and turned to play in his teammate Jaidon Selden to open the scoring in the second minute.
Selden used his first touch to beat United goalkeeper Jakeb Wiseman on the 18-yard line and his second to slot it away.
United took another 27 minutes to respond off a corner.
Shane Murray swung the ball into the near post to find the head of 17-year-old centre back Harrison Buesnel for the equaliser.
The Wanderers managed to hold the visitors to 1-1 until half-time, despite losing Manseh to a straight red card five minutes after the equaliser. The former Belconnen United FC striker was sent for a late challenge on United's Cameron Doherty.
The Wanderers came out firing in the second half to take the lead once more. Wanderers coach Ulisses da Silva said he could not have asked for a better response from his side.
"Four goals in one half with 10 men, they went beyond our expectations," he said.
"The main topic was to show our resilience and to come out and show the Wanderers character."
It began with Jaidon Selden in the 57th minute. He lobbed the ball into Jackson Paesler's feet in the box. The winger shook off his United defender, taking the ball inside and making it 2-1 with his left foot.
Gabriel Cole kicked off the Wanderers' third by finding the feet of Selden. He took it down the left-hand side, nutmegging his defender and beating another to find Marko Jadric. Before it came full circle and Jadric found Cole's feet, unmarked at the near post to slot it home.
A long-range strike by Shae Thornton in the 80th minute gave Wanderers their fourth. The midfielder ran the ball from halfway before taking his chances from range to find the top left-hand corner.
The final blow by the home side came from another long range strike in the 82nd minute. Blaise Vlazlovski lobbed the ball to try and beat Wiseman, who unfortunately pushed the ball into the back of the net.
Stevens said his side's downfall came after they took their foot off the gas in the second half.
"We stopped moving the ball forward and playing at a fast speed. We thought, 'It's going to happen today, we're going to get a win'. But we slowed down ... and assumed it was going to happen," he said.
"Good performances aren't enough, we have played some good football but we need to win, even if we win ugly."
Round 12 results: Canberra Croatia FC bt Belconnen United FC 4-0; Tigers FC bt Canberra Olympic FC 2-1; West Canberra Wanderers FC bt Tuggeranong United 5-1.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
