If Adam McCormack could have walked off the field and headed straight home after Hastings Valley Vikings' 57-38 victory over Kempsey Cannonballs on Saturday, he would have.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Vikings co-coach was so disappointed at the defensive effort from his team that the win felt like a loss even if it did all-but secure top spot before the finals.
"I didn't even want to sing the song after the game because I was that shattered about how we played," McCormack said.
"We had a big focus on defence this week and we let 38 points in which is just not good enough if you want to be a premiership team. That's not first grade footy."
There were extenuating circumstances after Ash Grieve, Tom Woods and Pete Segol all joined the casualty ward, but McCormack still expected better from his side.
They led 31-7 at the break before the rot set in.
"We were always out in front and the scoreboard was ticking over, but it was almost like we let them score (in the second half)," McCormack said.
"It was a lack of effort today and didn't feel like a win for anyone."
The signs were ominous after Hastings Valley's kick-off didn't travel the required distance which put them on the back foot.
It was an indication of what was to come.
"That kills the momentum when you come out fired up for a game and you go straight into a scrum," McCormack said.
While the Vikings defence at times was paper-thin, the Cannonballs attack asked plenty of questions.
"Kempsey kept coming at us and they always do. They scored some really good tries and it would have been easy for them to pack up shop and say 'we're done', but they kept coming every chance they got," McCormack said.
"They're going to be good in a few years. They've got a lot of young talent playing which is great."
The win should be enough to see the Vikings secure yet another major semi-final at Oxley Oval.
They now need to dust themselves off and come up with a fit side for the remaining two rounds of the season.
In the space of seven days, the Vikings went from having a full squad of players to choose from to again digging into their reserve grade stocks.
"Luckily we've bled a few guys this season and they know what it means to be in our first grade side so we're going to be calling on them again before the finals," McCormack said.
"Hopefully that gives a bit of time for the older, more experienced guys to get prepared and recover."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark our website
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- You can support us with a subscription
- Follow us on Twitter: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Instagram: @portmacnews
- Follow us on Google News