Weston has sensationally sacked senior coach Steve Piggott after just one season in charge of the club.
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The decision to part ways with Piggott came in the aftermath of the Bears’ 2-1 loss to Queensland outfit Palm Beach in the National Premier Leagues finals, but Weston football manager Shane Johnson stressed
on-field results were not a factor in the axing.
After finishing fifth in 2013 the Bears had run a close second to Newcastle Jets Youth this season and went on to reach the Northern NSW NPL grand final.
“We were very happy with Steve’s participation in every aspect of the
on-field performance, from his involvement in the youth set-up to the way the first grade side went this year,” he said.
“He’s done an excellent job and I genuinely believe he deserves to win coach of the year.
“But unfortunately as a club we’ve got some philosophies that we believe in that were different to his.
“At the end of the day it was a difficult decision, but it’s not always about success and as a club we need to continue to move forward.”
The players were said to be surprised when informed at the club’s post-match function at Weston Workers Club.
Johnson said the decision had been made in the lead-up to the clash with Palm Beach and the board would now meet over the coming days to discuss Piggott’s replacement.
For his part, Piggott said he had been surprised to hear the news, but respected the club’s decision.
“In the end I’m a paid employee of the club and the administrators have made their choice,” he said.
“The circumstances of when they did it, especially after a very good performance against a very good club, is disappointing, but that happens.
“I’ve got no problems with the players or the coaching stuff, it’s disappointing not to move on with a playing group that has really worked hard and done everything I’ve asked for.
“But I leave with my head held high.”
Earlier on Saturday night, the Bears had made amends for the disappointing 2-0 grand final loss to Lambton against one of Australia’s top NPL teams.
Palm Beach topped the NPL Queensland competition by seven points and won the grand final and tomorrow night will host South Springvale in an effort to reach the FFA Cup quarter-finals.
Yet the Bears were anything but disgraced, and took a 1-0 lead into half-time courtesy of the familiar one-two punch of Nathan Morris and Carl Thornton from a free kick.
The visitors were level after 55 minutes via a penalty, and claimed the winner 18 minutes from time when pacy forward Jarrod Kyle got in behind the Bears’ defence to slot home.
In other National Premier Leagues finals results, South Melbourne
edged a 1-0 win over South Hobart, Sydney’s Bonnyrigg hammered Cooma 6-1 and Adelaide-based Metro Stars FC defeat Western Australia’s Bayswater FC on penalties.