Sports Therapy Tasman United is “not far away” from graduating into the top tier of the Mainland Women’s Premier League, despite losing to Coastal Spirit 4-1 at Saxton Field on Sunday.
Tasman United is presently fourth in the league on nine points after winning three of its six games. It has suffered two losses to second-placed Coastal Spirit and one to league leaders Cashmere Technical but team manager James McPhie considers they are closing the gap on the top two teams.
“We are not far away from these teams,” James says. “We just need to concentrate for the full 90 minutes and we’ll be very competitive.
“We are a young team playing against bigger, more experienced sides but I’m certain we can beat them.
“If we can do it once, then I think we’ll break through that barrier and the girls will gain the confidence they need.”
James says the fact that Tasman matched Coastal Spirit in the first half of Sunday’s game indicates that they are good enough to compete against the top teams. The score was 1-1 at half time after Matilda Dawson equalised for Tasman in the 29th minute before they lost their way in the second half.
“We were playing it wide in the first half and it was working well but then we started trying to go through the middle in the second half and that played to their strength. We had a couple of chances in the second half but weren’t clinical enough in front of goal.”
Tasman has a bye this weekend before playing FC Twenty 11 and Universities in a double-header in Christchurch the following weekend. Tasman is one point behind third-placed FC Twenty 11, which has played one more game, while Universities are last on three points after one win from six games.
