From the Bayside Leader 10/06/2014
Hampton Rovers coach Guy Martyn admits his side has been caught out in certain stages during the Premier C season to date.
However Martyn remains more than confident another promotion is on the cards later this year after the newly-promoted club started the 2014 season with a solid 5-3 record.
Wins against Oakleigh and Banyule left Hampton third on the table coming into the bye weekend.
But a certain level of inconsistency prior has left Martyn wanting more in the second half of the season – beginning this Saturday at home to Old Camberwell.
“It’s a very even competition,” Martyn said.
“Some of the sides that we’ve lost to have been beaten by sides that we’ve beaten quite easily, so it’s been a bit of a triangle and it’s very unpredictable.”
With ball in hand Martyn remains pleased with his side’s progress up from dominating Division 1 last year.
However, the coach did admit his Rovers have taken a little bit of time to adjust to the new standard of Premier C football, telling Leader increased accountability has become a real factor in the higher division.
“We’ve probably fallen victims to our success last year,” he admitted.
“Rising up a division, some of the things we could get away with last year we’re just not quite getting away with, and last year it didn’t matter if there was a mistake made or we weren’t accountable or didn’t man up. “We got into the habit of not worrying about it last year, so we’ve just had to remind our guys this year that we’re playing in a competition above and playing better opposition, and they’ll hurt us if we turn the ball over or we don’t want to man up.”
Marcellin currently sits two games clear on top of the ladder at 7-1 – but that one loss was at the hands of the Rovers back in Round 2 to the tune of 52 points.
It’s for that reason Martyn truly believes his side can go all the way once more in 2014.
“Our best side – I’m more than confident – is good enough to win it, but we’ve got to get our best side on the park and make do with not necessarily having our best side week in week out,” Martyn said.
“So our expectations are still to make finals and play off in a grand final and go up to b-grade next year, and anything short we’d consider as a failure.”
