By Gavin Staindl
Below: City captain Orlando Mejias looked strong up forward. 62004 Pictures: Gavin Staindl
BERWICK City is turning its focus to the mouth-watering round one match up against Doveton after being knocked out of the Mirabella Cup on Saturday.
Berwick was outclassed by a talented South Springvale, going down to the Division Two side 3-1 at Warner Reserve.
The loss means Berwick has been knocked out of the FA cup-styled tournament but leaves coach Tom O’Halloran steeled for the game against Doveton in a fortnight.
“We are putting a big focus on that…. It is going to be some kind of match, isn’t it,” O’Halloran said.
Berwick was outplayed on Saturday, coming up against a South Springvale sided layered with ex-Premier League players and gun recruits from around the area.
South Springvale scored three goals and had the game wrapped up before Berwick’s 19-year-old Daniel Biondo returned some respectability to the scoreline with a late consolation goal five minutes before full time.
Although Berwick has been knocked out of the Mirabella Cup, it was the way the game was played that worried the coach.
“Fitness is not an issue with us… but the game was a bit poor,” O’Halloran said.
“We’ve been training fantastically all pre-season and I just think some players didn’t perform on the weekend.
“South Springvale is a very good team, so it was unlikely we would win, but I expected better from our defence.”
Berwick found itself exposed going forward, succumbing to pressure by the Souths strikers and midfield.
Constant turnovers and mistimed passes cost Berwick and led to two of Springvale’s three goals.
“Some decision making was pretty poor… but we are getting a couple more experienced players back into the side so we should have a right mix of youth and experience for us to be successful this year,” O’Halloran said.
