South Melbourne coach Chris Taylor says he is confident his side can win the league but warned his players of complacency following Wednesday night’s away loss to Bentleigh Greens.
The defeat was only South’s second of the season and closes the gap between the league-leaders and challengers Oakleigh – who may now feel that the title is within reach.
“Yeah, without a doubt,” Taylor said when asked if he was confident about his side’s chances of securing the league.
“When we played in moments today I thought we looked very, very good but it comes down to opportunities – we need to take our chances and start punishing teams.
“[I’d] probably [warn against] complacency but we can only control what we can control and we just have to win every game,” he added.
With Oakleigh having a chance of snatching the title from South Melbourne’s grasp, all eyes will be on Lakeside Stadium on September 7th for South’s blockbuster clash against the Cannons in a game that could decide who takes home the inaugural NPL Victoria title.
“I think Oakleigh will take it all the way to the wire now but if it means we’ll have to beat Oakleigh, we’ll do it,” Taylor said.
“Pressure’s just as much on Oakleigh as it is on us – everyone’s going on about it, [Oakleigh] can’t afford to slip up either so we’ve done well to get to where we have.
“Today was a bit of a blip along the way but I still think we showed enough – in patches we looked very good so I wouldn’t go away from the game thinking we’ve blown it, that’s not the case at all”.
South were unable to take the three points away from Kingston Heath, eventually losing 2-1 following Tyson Holmes’s late consolation goal in the 93rd minute, leaving Taylor frustrated at his side’s inability to capitalise on earlier opportunities.
“We had plenty of chances and then we made a poor error at the back and gifted them the goal – it was an uphill battle from there, they can play the game at their tempo and dictate the plays,” he said.
“Bentleigh are a good side, I always think they’re going to play well. We had enough moments to put the game to bed and we didn’t do that and that came back and bit us in the end.”
With South Melbourne making a number of changes to their playing list before the season, Taylor revealed the club may follow a similar trend after the conclusion of the 2014 NPL season.
“Look, you’re always looking to up the tempo a little bit and make it more competitive and good teams do that all around the world and we’ll be no different,” he said.
Chris Taylor’s side will be hoping to make their way back onto the winner’s list when they welcome Werribee City to Lakeside Stadium today, with kick-off scheduled for 5pm.