THE Northern Storm defeated Kempsey Saints 2-1 to move into third spot of the Coastal Premier League last Saturday at Korora Oval.

James Gorrie opened the scoring as he dribbled through the Kempsey defence and side footed the ball home to open the scoring.

Kempsey Saints fought back in the second half but a Myk Watson goal sealed the three points for the Storm to leapfrog over Port Macquarie United into third place.

Storm Coach Eric McCarthy praised the resilience of the team after a last minute reshuffle in the defence.

“It was a scrappy game where we never got into top form, three of the back four pulled out the morning of the game which threw us about.

“But at the end of the day the steel that’s forming in the side along with some individual qualities snatched it for us,” said Eric.

Storm co-coach Craig Caruana was pleased with the disciplined 90 minute performance.

“Kempsey were much more organised and structured than last week and pushed us for the full 90 minutes, we kept our composure and were able to create some good chances.

“When you have three tough games in seven days and have five regulars out it’s always going to be a challenge but I thought we controlled large parts of the game and showed we are able to go the full distance which at times has deserted us in the past,” said Craig

The Northern Storm’s next match is a derby against cross town rivals Coffs United on Sunday 27 June at 2pm.

 

By David WIGLEY