PORT United coach Chris Walsh heaped praise on Saturday's opposition after bowing out of Football Mid North Coast premiership race on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Walsh said his team was outplayed in the midfield, especially in the second half, as Saints didn't let United get going.
The Green Bloods tried to go through the middle, but when that was shut down, they ran out of ideas in the minor semi final at Findlay Park.
Matt Broderick scored a cracker on Saturday. Lucas Heagney's drive went just wide of the posts.
United didn't have a lot of luck at the other end of the field. A deflection inside the area hit defender Brendan Prince's arm, which gave Port Saints a penalty.
Walsh lamented not changing attacking options in the second half when the middle of the park was dominated by Saints.
"Looking back, I should have attacked down the wide channels," he said yesterday.
While that was disappointing, he wasn't let down by the back half of United's season, and there were other positives on the pitch on Saturday.
Young Eli Wade excelled again. Wade was given the difficult task of marking Aaron Oppedisano.
"He had a cracker," Walsh said of Wade.
"He's still only 18. He didn't let us down all day."
He thought the whole team had good games on Saturday.
"They didn't let us play," Walsh said.
"We always finish well, but yesterday we didn't.
"Full credit to them."
United's reserve graders had a 4-1 win over Forster Tuncurry to advance to the preliminary final against Kempsey Saints next weekend.
The match was set down for Boronia Park, but that could be changed to Dixie Park this week.