PICTURES: Positive progression from Huntly but manager Allan Hale pinpoints poor chance conversion rate as one area for improvement
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Progress is happening at Huntly, but manager Allan Hale has identified one area of his team's play that needs to improve next season.
The Christie Park side have improved their points tally, position and defensive record from 2021-22 but have scored less goals.
As happy as Hale is with the positive moves made by his squad this term, he is keen to see his men get their shooting boots on in time for the next campaign.
The Black and Golds' boss hinted that he might even look to the transfer market to strengthen his goalscoring options.
Huntly's failure to take goal opportunities was evident on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw with neighbours Keith at Kynoch Park.
Hale felt a draw was not an unfair outcome but lamented his team's disappointing finishing - not for the first time this season.
"That’s been the frustration for us," Hale said. "Defensively, we are a lot more solid and have a better structure. Our style was a lot more fluent last year but as a result of that we were far too open so we had to adapt throughout pre-season.
"In essence it has made us harder to beat and we don’t concede many clear chances through a game and our goals against column has been really positive.
"But at the top end of the pitch we are still averaging 20-odd shots in a game which from a manager’s perspective, you are pleased because you’ve got the balance of the team right.
"But the conversion rate is something like 18 per cent which is really poor. That has certainly been an issue and it's something that we need to address in the close season, both on the training pitch but maybe also looking to do one or two things from a recruitment perspective to give us a bit more quality at the top end of the pitch and convert these chances."
Huntly had to rely on a Keith player scoring their equalising goal on Saturday, as Ewan Murray was the unlucky man to turn a cross ball past his own keeper to cancel out Lewis Coull's Maroons' opener.
"In the end a draw was probably fair over the piece," Hale said. "The first half was one of dominance with multiple opportunities within that period to get ourselves in front.
"But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that when you’re on top you’ve got to convert those chances. Despite getting into good areas we were wasteful in the final third.
"As a result of that, the more chances that we missed and the longer the game went on you could tell that the belief of the players began to wane a little bit in terms of the confidence they had to convert the chances.
"We then fell behind from a really poor setpiece that we really should be defending a lot better, which then gives Keith a little bit of momentum and something to hold to.
"We responded really well and got a goal back within a few minutes and apart from the last ten minutes the game became really stale and scrappy, a midfield battle with not a lot of quality.
"In the last ten minutes we asserted ourselves into the game again but missed two glorious chances when Robbie Foster missed a one-on-one, then Brodie Allen missed a sitter at the end that would have given us a welcome three points.
"It wasn’t to be and on the basis of the missed chances, and Keith had a few efforts from setpieces, a draw was probably fair."
Huntly will finish their season with two away matches at Brora Rangers on Saturday and Rothes the following midweek, with Hale urging his men to make the most of any chances that come their way.
"I’d be more concerned if we weren’t creating the chances in the first place, and it’s not without working on it on the training pitch. But we need that composure and ultimately we need that quality and conviction in front of goal in order to get us clear in games.
"When you look at the games we have won, you can probably count on one hand how many we have won by a two-goal plus margin.
"As much as there’s a lot of things we are really pleased about with the team, for us to take that next step we certainly need to have a conversation rate a lot higher than what it is.
"If we had that already, we could have the top seven place wrapped up now and ultimately we haven’t. What happens in the next two games will determine if we finish seventh, eighth or ninth.
"Sixth is probably beyond us now. We are away to Brora and Rothes and we didn’t pick up any points from those two fixtures last season, but we need to be positive in terms of our mindset and we know we are capable of picking up positive results, we have shown that throughout the course of the season.
"We need to keep the boys ticking over this week and next and try to finish our season strongly."
