Ollie King would have preferred Port Saints to have been finished building by the halfway point in the Coastal Premier League 2022 first grade campaign.
Now would have been the time for Saints to launch into a full-scale finals tilt.
But with a strong run of home games to come at Findlay Park in coming weeks the Port Macquarie side will look to use Saturday’s 1-0 win over third-placed Bellingen as a crucial point in their season.
“I would have liked to have been done building by the middle of the season we’re in but what can you do,” King said.
“You’ve got to keep rolling. We’re still putting the final touches on what we want to achieve, but we’ve got a really strong run of home games now if we can get on the field and keep getting on the field.”
Ben Oakley’s second-half strike proved the difference in a match where Saints were arguably the better side and deserved the three points.
The understrength visitors were missing a couple of key players which King admitted helped his team’s cause.
“They were without a few of their key guys who we were planning to keep an eye on and they weren’t there so that helped our result,” he said.
“It was a good win against a side that’s had a pretty good season so far and something we can build on for next week.”
The win saw Saints move into sixth on the ladder, two points adrift of fourth-placed Port United and two wins adrift of Bellingen in third.
Saints also have two catch-up fixtures in hand over Bellingen so they are poised to make their move in coming weeks.
“It’s still head down and keep working,” King said.
“As soon as that game is finished we start thinking about the next so we’re definitely not going to dwell on that for too long.
“We take the three points, look at ourselves on the ladder and go ‘okay we’re in sixth with two games in hand … let’s keep trying to push for top four.’”
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