Experience cost Kempsey Saints dearly last year.
It’s the one thing they want to improve on as they aim to improve on their consistency which saw them sit in the top three halfway through the year.
Then they fell off a cliff after winning six matches in seven weeks.
Coach Dan Baker is hopeful they can take what they learned last season to inspire and motivate a repeat performance that lasts most of the season.
“We lost a few games at the end of the year due to a lack of experience and hopefully we can push for finals this year,” Baker said.
“It showed we can match it with everyone. We beat everyone except Northern Storm and Coffs United which gave us a lot of confidence.”
Baker knows his team will have to improve with their best from last year unlikely to be good enough this year.
“Coffs Tigers are better this year, Port Saints along with Port United are going to be stronger again this year from what we’ve seen this pre-season,” he said.
“Everyone seems like they’ve improved on last year so I think the comp will be really solid for sure.”
Saints’ experienced the highs and the lows of the Coastal Premier League with a 2-1 defeat of Port United on the road along with a gallant 3-2 defeat to Coffs City among their best results.
But they also threw away a finals spot when beaten 6-3 by Sawtell.
“When we played good games we were really good and it was more about that consistency and finishing games off when we should have finished them off,” Baker said.
“Playing the full 90 minutes comes with experience. We missed a few first graders here and there so hopefully we can keep a stronger side on the field.”
Coastal Football Leagues 