It is difficult to tell whether the team is running out of condition or not. Club president Heinrich Haussler put the loss down to a better opposition on the day.

“The other side was just a little bit better than us,” he said.

“We saw a very good, entertaining match. We had our chances, and they converted a beautiful header towards the end of the first-half. With about 10 minutes to go we were one down.

“We did dominate during the first 30 minutes, but you could see that they were dangerous. They got in front of the goal dangerously a few times and it was on.”

Haussler said Norths pressured the Joeys again during the beginning of the second-half.

“They had another good chance with a really good header that just slashed the top bar. Could have been in and it would have been 2-0 then and it would have been curtains.”

Haussler said despite being down, the Joeys rallied again but could not score.

“It was all played in very good spirit and really this was no one’s fault that we lost but our own; the team was just better,” he said.

This weekend the Joeys play Oxley Vale Attunga at 2.30pm at Inverell. A win would see the them go up against North Armidale in Armidale the following week for a grand final berth.

“People may see a reshaped Joeys team, keen because we want to get there if we can. We’re in there with a chance,” Haussler said.