“They knew it was a game that slipped past them,” Wanderers’ coach Blaise Fagan said. 

The Wanderers had the lion’s share of opportunities upfront however when it came to finishing their success rate was significantly lower than Hurstville’s.

Fagan said the Wanderers missed a plethora of shots on goal in comparison to Hurstville who scored three times from just three shots on goal.

The visitors set the tone, scoring an early goal 10 minutes into the match.

A Hurstville player was sent off just before half time after the referee penalised him twice for minor infringements.

The Wanderers were hoping to snatch the lead, as they were playing against a squad of 10 men. 

“We should have won; in the second half we dominated territory and chances to score, but we couldn’t finish well,” Fagan said. 

Veteran midfielder Carl Pideski went into the match fully aware of the team’s weaknesses, saying on Wednesday that, “we do need to work on just being sharper in finishing off the opportunities.”

Leading by example Pideski landed a sensational header in the back of the net in the second half.

However the Wanderers handed the game to the Minotaurs.

“We turned the ball over too cheaply in poor areas,” Fagan said.

The team of youthful players are quickly learning that experienced teams are playing strategically. 

“We have to be smarter about the way we play football,” he said.

“Hurstville milked the free kicks, when they had players injured they were down for minutes at a time from fairly innocuous challenges.”

Injured Wanderers Sam Manglesdorf and Justin Curran will return to training this week however Fagan believes they may not be well enough to play a full game of soccer next week.