East Armidale made their intentions clear early against Norths United, with Jake Davies hitting the back of the net in the opening moments of the game but a series of wayward shots crippled the side’s ability to put points on the board.
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From the opening goal, it was a case of missed opportunities for the side though as Norths hit back twice through Peter Ince.
The Redmen’s Declan Druitt added a third to give his side a 3-1 lead at the break. It was much the same for Easts in the second half with shot after shot missing the goals.
Anthony Holmes extended the lead for Norths United to 4-1 20 minutes into the second stanza.
Peter Ince hit his hat trick five minutes later to extend his side’s lead to 5-1.
But Easts weren’t ready to quit.
Davies hit three-in-a-row to bring the deficit back to 5-4 but time ran out and Norths landed the win.
Norths United co-coach Scott Freeman said although his side found themselves behind on the scoreboard early, he was impressed resilience to hold on and hit back.
“The determination to get back in the game,” he said.
“The commitment level for each other was probably the best thing we got out of the boys.”
Freeman said it could have been a very different scoreline if Easts managed to land more of their attempts.
“They're a good outfit, we were lucky they just didn't finish,” he said.
“They could have been up four or five in the first half quite easily.”
The East Armidale and Norths United game was the only McDonald’s Northern Inland Premier League game to take place on the weekend with the other three games washed out.
This Saturday, Norths play Inverell who sit bottom on the ladder.
Despite the Joeys’ lowly position, the visiting side is determined not to take them lightly but with two Redmen leaving the field injured on Saturday, Freeman said they won’t know until the eve of the match who will take their place in the starting line up.
“There's a fair bit we've got to work on but we have to take it week-by-week,” he said.
“We have players that are out injured so we don't know what we are going to run out with every week so that is probably going to be the hardest thing.”