NORTH Coast juniors won four from five matches against Lake Macquarie FC in the Premier Youth League at the Coffs Coast synthetics on Sunday.

In the two opening fixtures North Coast under 15s won 3-1 but the under 13s went down 3-1.

North Coast under 14s won 2-0, whereas the under 16s faced a challenging situation, trailing 2-0 with only ten minutes left on the clock.

But they staged a remarkable comeback, scoring three goals and sealing a memorable victory.

Heading into the final match of the day, North Coast’s under 18s, positioned second in the competition, faced a determined Lake Macquarie side.

The match seemed destined for a 2-2 draw until the outstanding Rory Green, broke through Lakes’ defence and calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper, securing a resounding and emphatic victory for his team.

Commenting on the team’s progress, former Socceroo and NCF technical director Greg Brown emphasised the importance of movement on and off the ball.

“We have been working on defending as a team, which means when we lose the ball our players become more central and force the opposition to go wide into the corners where there is less danger.

“Although watching football on TV is good for learning how the game is played at the top level, the camera angle doesn’t show the whole pitch and how hard the players are working off the ball to create the right structure.

“It takes time but at this stage it is all about progression.

“I like our wingers to take on defenders and create space, so we need to be clinical in front of goal to open a well-drilled defence,” Brown said.

By David WIGLEY