THE Coffs Coast Tigers have breezed past the Northern Storm, beating their Coastal Premier League counterparts 5-0 at Korora on Monday.

Despite the healthy score-line and fatigue from playing a loaded fixture list, Tigers coach Luke Stow still believed his troops could do more.

“I’m happy with the result, but not the performance.

“Possession-wise it was very good but what we were doing in the front-third of the field has got to get better.

“We didn’t put enough pressure on the opposition, and we thought we could just coast along and get a result.”

The contest started evenly enough, with both keepers being tested early on, but as time wore on the Tigers began to dominate possession and attacked with their wide men down the flanks.

Coffs forward Christian Mirindi proved the inspiration for the first, forging a run down the right before flicking a pass through to Taj Buck who poked home from close range.

Mirindi was again involved when the striker went sailing through the air after a challenge inside the box caused the referee to point to the penalty spot.

But his resulting kick was saved, with Storm custodian Charlie Shipperlee diving low to his right, claiming the ball comfortably.

Despite that setback the Tigers continued to press forward, with Innocent David adding his name to the scoresheet before the end of the half.

After the break the pressure intensified, and Coffs contained the Storm to their half of the field.

Tigers full-back Thomas Mitchell then took advantage of his advanced position, striking the ball into the back of the net from outside the box for his first, then bundling another effort over soon after to secure his brace.

The Tigers saved their best until last, with a deft chip over Shipperlee finding Levi Wilson, who steered his first-time effort through a sea of Storm bodies.

Stow gave credit to the younger team members for the win, “The younger ones, they don’t know how to stop and they give it everything they’ve got.”

Storm coach Eric McCarthy said his side will have to regroup, “We’re a better team than what we were today.

“The Tigers are a good side that play some fast slick football, but we should be able to match that with the talent in our squad.

“We’ll soldier on and fix it next week against Bello.”

By Sam PARKER