Sydney FC goalkeeper Ryan Norval believes his side can bounce back stronger after suffering a 1-0 loss to the Central Coast Mariners in an NYL game last weekend.
Sydney FC goalkeeper Ryan Norval believes his side can bounce back stronger after suffering a 1-0 loss to the Central Coast Mariners in an NYL game last weekend.
A lone goal early in the second half saw the Central Coast Mariners defeat a Sydney FC side that had romped to a 5-1 victory over Melbourne Heart a week earlier.
Reflecting on the team performance against the Mariners, Norval said that it fell short of their best. “I think we did well, but we have definitely performed better in previous weeks. It was decent, but it wasn-t our best,” he admitted.
Certainly, it would have been disappointing to follow the 5-1 thrashing of Melbourne Heart with a disjointed performance the following weekend?
“We trained really well during the week. I-m not sure what happened on Saturday, it just wasn-t really our day,” Norval said.
“Maybe the big win from the week before was in the back of our minds. Maybe we weren-t 100% there, mentally.”
Norval had a solid game between the sticks and said he was happy to be getting matches under his belt. “I thought I played well, I know there are a few little things to work on, but they-ll come,” he said.
“I haven-t been playing regularly for a while because the New South Wales Premier League season ended a few months ago, so it-s good to get back into match situations.”
The talented shot stopper backed Sydney FC to bounce back, especially on the back of some very good individual performances. “Hagi Gligor was great, he worked really hard in the middle,” Norval pointed out. “Tomislav Mijic as well, he was really solid in the centre of the defence.”
Norval welcomed the presence of regular first teamers Shannon Cole and Dimitri Petratos.
“Shannon and Dimi really help you along. They-re always positive and looking out for you and they add that bit of class to the line-up.”
It is a line-up already brimming with class and one that will be looking to get back to their best this weekend against Perth Glory.
