FOOTBALL: It was always going to be a challenging year for the Panthers, but poor performances and a string of undisciplined performances from one of their hopeful stars has made the season an uphill battle.
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Monaro suffered a 0-4 loss to Canberra Olympic on Sunday after import Michael Mensah earned himself a red card just before halftime for an illegal strike on a Canberra Olympic player.
Panthers assistant coach Pepe Lopera said the team's performance was far from their best, but said the loss of Mensah was the turning point in the game.
"It was a fair result because we didn't play well," he said.
"Our passing was atrocious and as is the summary of our season- we needed a few chances to convert and it didn't come."
The Panthers came out of the second half down a player and with two goals against them, but still looked to be competitive, chances were once again made, but conversions did not come.
Yellow cards were presented to Chris Ruiz and Mark Shields in the second half, Lopera said overall he wasn't happy with the refereeing standard.
Canberra Olympic goalkeeper, Ange Konstantinou was sent off in the last 10 minutes for a deliberate handball outside of the box, but Monaro were already a man and three goals down, a final goal from Olympic in the dying minutes sealed the deal.
One of the positives to come of the game for the Panthers was the three under 20s who were given the opportunity to play Premier League and Lopera said Lewis Bates stepped up.
"Lewis Bates was really good for us and is a defensive mid-fielder and he performs week in week out in under 20s and he's the key reason they're going so well," he said.
"Tim Stewart, our captain, really stepped up his workrate when we were in trouble."
Monaro tackle the FFA Centre of Excellence on Sunday, August 2, at Riverside Stadium and Lopera said they will be punished heavily by the third-placed guns if they put in a repeat performance.
"I'm always positive, I don't dwell on losses. I'm quietly confident we're turning a corner and it'll come," he said.
"[FFA Centre of Excellence] have some of the best young talent in Australia and they don't stop running, so we have to concentrate on shutting down their attacking third. We'll have to put numbers back to help defend and capitalise on the counter attack."
Lopera admits the season could have been better for the Premier League side, but the club as a whole is growing and improving.
"Our under 20s side is going to make finals, so we're a club that has the talent there," he said.
"We're looking forward to Woden Weston the week after [FFA Centre for Excellence], our goal is to beat them and finish seventh, so there's always something to play for."
