Finals football is slipping away from the Illawarra Stingrays' grasp after they were beaten 3-2 by Macarthur Rams on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Stingrays have dropped to eighth on the NSW Women's National Premier League ladder following the loss at JJ Kelly Park.
With five regular season games still to play, the Anthony Guido-coached outfit can still mathematically make the top five.
Though the coach conceded the loss to Macarthur made this scenario more difficult.
"Macarthur were only five points ahead of us before we played them. Had we won we would have closed the gap on them and the other two teams in front of us. But we didn't, so it is going to be difficult now," Guido said.
The coach added the loss to Macarthur was disappointing because he felt his chargers created more than enough chances to win the game.
The Stingrays' missed opportunities included a missed penalty and fluffing two open goal chances.
"We totally dominated the second half and should really have won but missed way too many chances," Guido said.
"It was a game of two halves. They dominated the first half. We made a few tactical changes at halftime, and the girls did really really well in the second half, we just missed too many chances, and you can't miss five or six chances against a quality team like Macarthur and expect to get a result."
Guido though couldn't fault his players' efforts.
"The effort was great , they tried their butts off. I can't ask anymore from an effort point of view," he said.
"The girls worked hard but we just missed too many chances.
It is going to be hard now to make the finals.
- Stingrays coach Anthony Guido
"It is going to be hard now to make the finals. Mathematically it is not out of the question but it is going to be very difficult."
The Stingrays have won five games, drawn five and lost five of their 15 games to date to sit on 20 points.
The fifth-placed Manly United FC are five points ahead, having played two games more than the Stingrays, while the sixth and seventh-placed Sydney Olympic FC and Blacktown City FC are on 24 points each.
Olympic have only played 14 games, while Blacktown has played 16 games.
The Stingrays will have their work cut out closing the gap on those ahead of them, as they have to play league leaders Sydney University FC next Sunday.
Guido though was optimistic the Stingrays would put in a good performance at JJ Kelly Park.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say.
Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.