Dandenong City coach Ivan Duzel was of two minds following his sides 2-2 home draw with Whittlesea Ranges on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the strong crowd at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex being treated to a two-goal comeback from their side, the coach was left both disappointed and happy with the result.
Duzel took aim at his sides lack of ability to convert their chances, specifically in the opening half, which saw the referee turn down a strong penalty claim as well as a claim for miss of the season after Goran Jozeljic somehow blazed wide faced with an open net.
“The chances that we had in the first 25 minutes, it should be game over. With the penalty too, it’s a clear penalty but after that things happen against you,” he said.
“Unfortunately it was a similar game against Avondale Heights too; the first 20 minutes was fine and after we cop these two goals, 70 minutes after that we were there creating chances and scoring a goal but it wasn’t enough.
“Today it’s the same picture, I have to work hard, the boys have to work hard, we have to believe, and [put in] more effort and hard work.”
He was also disappointed with the fashion in which the team conceded their two goals, which left them playing catch up all day, but was in the end happy with the fact they did nab a point.
“You see, two counter attacks which have come from nowhere and we cop these two goals. It’s disappointing,” Duzel said.
“After the second half we pushed as much as we can, we have created a lot of chances, and scored two goals. At the end of the day we have to be happy with the point after [being] 2-0 down.”
“We spoke about [the deficit] in the second half and I said just keep going like that and obviously if score two goals against you, we are good enough to score two, and more, if you score those goals early.
“Unfortunately they came a little bit too late with the two goals and as you can see we couldn’t score the [last] goal.
“We had our chances, we had a plan, we have everything but you know unfortunately sometimes games happen like that, and you have to be happy with the result at the end of the day.”
Duzel also hinted at some action when the transfer window opens, with the head coach looking to bring someone in who can assist in transition, and start counter attacks with pace.
“We’re looking always for good players, better than we’ve got who are able to do these things [and fit into] the game that we play, the tempo, all these things.
“Maybe when the window opens we can strengthen the team a little bit better and get these goals. As I said we’ve got a structure, we have a good [game plan] but unfortunately we haven’t got enough goals for how many chances we’re creating.”
Dandenong City take on Moreland Zebras on Sunday at De Chene Reserve with kick-off scheduled for 3:00pm.