Cootamundra might still be a mathematical shot at qualifying for finals after stumbling to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of South Wagga, but Strikers captain Adam McPhail knows his side are effectively out of the race.
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The veteran midfielder had a front row seat to the one show he didn’t want to see on Saturday night – a resurgent Warriors outfit.
Now, McPhail has been left to grapple with a bewildering loss and a season of ‘what ifs’.
“It’s just been the story of our season, hasn’t it?” he said.
“Small errors, too many missed tackles; just the simple things that we’re getting wrong and in the end, it seems like we just didn’t want it as much as South Wagga.
“They (South Wagga) really wanted it on Saturday night – they were up and about and buzzing around the field and we didn’t match them.”
They (South Wagga) really wanted it on Saturday night – they were up and about and buzzing around the field and we didn’t match them
- Cootamundra skipper Adam McPhail
The return of Moses Adesola and Tom Mathewson paid dividends for the Warriors, who scrapped hard at Rawlings Park for just their second win of the year.
McPhail had nothing but praise for his opponents and bemoaned the Strikers’ growing casualty list.
“Good on them and I genuinely think they’ll knock a few more teams over by the end of the year. They’re a talented side and I hope they go alright,” he said.
“I can’t really be negative on our players because they tried their best and we’ve just had so many boys out and injured throughout the year.
“For us, it’s tough because while we’ve had boys like Connor Thornley and Scott Endacott step up, we’re not beating teams in the bottom two and that to me says we shouldn’t be playing finals anyway.”
“I guess we’ll just go into next week against Lake Albert with nothing to lose and we’ll see what happens.”
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