North Queensland goalkeeper Paul Henderson has flagged a return to form for the Fury after they ‘didn’t turn up’ against a determined Newcastle Jets side on Sunday and suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss.
While the Jets once again proved a difficult proposition at home, Henderson said the Fury were kicking themselves after being comprehensively outplayed in such a critical match before the FIFA match day break.
“We’ve had a talk about it this morning and its just one of those things – we’ve had a bad day at the office,” he said on Tuesday.
“They were winning a lot of the second balls and things like that, but it’s just one of those games that we didn’t turn up for and we got punished for it.”
“We’ve had a good last 10 weeks we’ve been really decent, it’s really disappointing that we’re going into a break at the foot of the table.”
A win or even a draw at EnergyAustralia Stadium could have prevented a fall back to last place on the table, but the Fury were off the pace from the outset with only a string of quality saves from Henderson saving North Queensland from a more severe defeat.
“It’s good to make saves, and every goalkeeper wants to do that, but on the flipside you don’t want to have to make saves because that means everybody isn’t playing well then,” Henderson said.
“It’s a bit disappointing we would like to go into the break fifth or sixth on the table but it’s not to be. We’re disappointed obviously and with disappointment you want to play as soon as you can, but we’ve got a break and we’ve got to deal with it.”
While the international break has scuppered any attempts at an immediate bounce back for Henderson and the Fury, it may prove vital in shoring up a defensive unit crippled by a string of injuries early in the season.
The likes of Karl Dodd and Jacob Timpano are closing in on a return, which will be a positive for the final half of a gruelling season, according to Henderson.
“Credit to the boys that have come in,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries and we’ve had a makeshift defence, so everyone’s (been) good at the back, but vying for (places in the team) is always good.”
The Fury will be relieved to kick-start the second half of their campaign in front of their loyal band of supporters at the familiar confines of Dairy Farmers Stadium against the Central Coast Mariners on November 21.
“Our last result at home was a win, and if we get some supporters behind us … it’s going to be very important that we pick up some more points especially at home,” said Henderson.
