Saints suffered their first defeat of the season in a 5-1 rout at the hands of a rampant Taree Wildcats.

In the process, the Wildcats surged into the Football Mid North Coast Premier League top six and gave Saints a reality check in the process.

Goodman said Taree used their pace, size and strength well against a youthful Saints side who appeared flat and unable to stem the tide.

The Wildcats led 2-0 at the break and despite a Michael Bishop penalty midway through the second half, were rarely challenged on the scoreboard.

“The loss had to come sooner or later, but I didn’t think we would concede that many goals,” Goodman said.

“I thought we were on par with them in the first half, but they took their moments and we didn’t.”

The challenge for the Saints coach now is with his ability to get his players up for a rematch with the Wildcats in Taree on Saturday.

“A loss is never good, but we’ll learn from it although it is pretty hard to come back from a four-goal loss,” he said.

“But we’ll get back on the horse and go again.

“They got round one, hopefully we can get round two.”