Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins has put the focus on "playing for 90 minutes" when the Panthers host New Lambton in round two of Herald Women's Premier League on Friday night.
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Last year's grand finalists trailed 4-0 at the break before being beaten 5-1 by defending champions Newcastle Olympic in round one while the Eagles lost 2-0 to Adamstown.
Both will be out to build some confidence with a strong showing at John Street Oval on Friday night. Kick-off is 7.45pm.
"We need to be starting a lot quicker and we've just got to be more effective when we've got the ball," Atkins said.
"Our ball movement was very slow in that first game and there were a few positioning issues that need to be addressed. We've just been trying to finetune a few of those things and get things back on track this round."
One area was having more of a presence in the final third, where they have sustained heavy losses with superstriker Jen Hoy and fellow attacker Annika D'Amico not playing this year. Their only goal against Olympic came through midfielder and captain Elodie Dagg and was from the spot.
While Warners Bay are fielding a new-look attack this year, including new recruit Alannah Russell who has joined the Panthers from the Emerging Jets program, Eagles coach Greg Lowe has put together virtually a whole new team.
"In that first game against Adamstown they obviously held their own, so we're expecting it will be difficult, especially with the week off as well [over Easter]," Atkins said. "We need to be out of the blocks straight away. We can't be 45 minutes late in this one."
In other round-two games, Broadmeadow host Olympic at Magic Park on Saturday afternoon and Adamstown play Mid Coast at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Saturday night. On Sunday, Charlestown are at home to Maitland.