Fittingly it was Mother Nature who played a part as Northern Storm ended a three-game winless streak with a 2-0 victory over Sawtell on Saturday.
A severe storm whipped through Toormina forcing officials to abandon the game after 60 minutes with Eric McCarthy’s men holding a two-goal advantage.
Tom Sweeney and Tom Whalen found the back of the net as the Storm claimed their first three points since a 3-2 win over Macleay Valley on 1 August.
“We went from joint top with Port Saints to sixth place over the space of three games,” McCarthy said.
“It was a slump; three games without a win in my mind is a slump … you shouldn’t be going three games without a win.”
Saturday’s win would also double as the team’s first clean sheet of the season.
“We have been ravaged by injuries and two of our starting back four have been out for the last five weeks,” McCarthy said.
“Our 17-year-old left back came in and was probably one of the better players on the field.”
Sawtell coach Jody Jenkins said his team had one or two opportunities to get into the contest but didn’t take them.
“We’re not having much luck at the minute as a team, but we’ll get there,” he said.
“Our striker put a shot wide from the six-yard box that if it had have gone in … it might have been a different story.
“The team spirit is there, but the results are not going our way at the minute.
“It’s just a confidence and belief that they need and that comes with experience,”
Jenkins conceded it was frustrating to see his team continue to concede cheap goals.
“It is a little frustrating but I can’t be too hard on them because most of them are kids and you don’t want to kill their confidence,” he said.
“We keep giving away cheap goals and once we realise we can’t afford to do that we will compete against most teams.”
The match between Coffs Tigers and Coffs United was postponed due to rain and hail. The weather interruption saw Boambee v North Coast halted at half time.
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