It was not the result coach Niko Papaspiropoulos was after but he believed Charlestown were on the right track if they continued to produce performances like the one in a heart-breaking, last-minute 1-0 loss to league leaders Newcastle Olympic in round 13.
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Sixth-placed Azzurri were left on 15 points. They are four adrift of Warners Bay and Adamstown who have 19 and are fourth and fifth respectively. Maitland jumped to 21 points and third place with a 7-2 win over New Lambton (0).
"We had to absorb some pressure in the second half, as you do against good teams in tight games, but I can't fault the performance," Papaspiropoulos said.
"The girls worked really hard and if that's the standard we can hold ourselves to, and again understrength, then we'll be doing a good job. It was a good shift. Although I'm disappointed not to get something out of it, I'm very happy with what we did."
He is excited by the prospect of getting some players back as the season approaches its third and final round. Injured leading scorer Lori Depczynski, who has been nursing an ankle complaint since round 10, is expected to be back in action against New Lambton when competition resumes on July 11. There are no games this weekend due to the NNSW Women's State Cup at Speers Point.
Azzurri open their state cup campaign on Saturday morning against Olympic but will be without several first-grade players, including strike weapon Jess Gentle.
"Unfortunately, we won't have many first-grade players due to some injuries and niggles, some which were picked up last weekend, so it will be a mix of firsts and reserves," Papaspiropoulos said.
"It might even be a good chance for a few of the 17s to show what they have."
