Macleay Valley Rangers' Chris Walker scored a goal in the first half of the home game, but Coffs United ultimately led 2-1 at halftime.

"We played well in patches, but we just have to get that consistency rate up," Macleay Valley Rangers coach Jason Coleman said.

"Coffs United are a good football side and we knew that going into the match... we knew we had to match their intensity and that just didn't happen as much as we needed it to."

Josh Munro scored a free kick for the team in the second half, but Coleman said fatigue let them down in the end.

"It just got away from us in the second half and we got a little bit tired," he said. "Our ball control isn't as good as it needs to be at the moment too."

Coleman said the rain on the weekend and a few players off with injuries didn't help their chances of winning either.

"We were three or four players down in key areas this weekend, and the conditions weren't the greatest as well," he said. "It was a bit scrappy in areas, but we have to play to that, I suppose.

"Tristan Smith had a great game and Jordan Clarke, a new bloke who's been playing with us for the last two weeks, stood up to the test - he's quite young and standing up well."

Coleman said he's confident that the team knows what they need to do in preparation for this week's doubleheader against Kempsey Saints on Saturday and Taree Wildcats on Sunday.

"I'm just looking to improve on the team's ball stability at the moment and just trying to keep the ball in key areas. I think that's a big thing we have to work on. We need to tighten up our defence a bit more as well.

"Going forward... we're nearly mid-way through the season and we know the areas we've got to improve on and we'll keep pushing on."

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