Manchester Maccabi 1st boss Stuart Delmonte has joked he might be forced to hit his misfiring stars in the pocket if they continue to fritter way opportunities in front of goal.

Maccabi have scored nine times in their opening five league games but four of those came on the opening day of the Tameside League season.

Delmonte has repeatedly voiced his frustration at his team’s inability to kill off their opponents and wants his players to be more ruthless in the final third.

“If they keep missing these simple chances then perhaps I’ll fine them three pounds each time with the money going to Manchester Maccabi’s football section,” he said.

“We’ve missed so many chances and it has cost us points. We’ve hit the post, hit the bar and dominated matches but not won.

“Managers have come up to me after the game and said that we’ve been the better team but just hadn’t taken our chances.

“It’s been so frustrating and we’ll do extra shooting practice but somewhere along the line we’ll get it right.

“Once we do get it right then somebody is going to take an almighty beating and feel our wrath.”

Maccabi take on Hartshead FC on Sunday having already beaten them 4-2 on the opening day.

Hartshead won their first game of the season last weekend by thumping Astley Arms 7-1 and Delmonte is expecting a difficult encounter.

He added: “We’ve got a few players who might be missing and they’ve improved since the opening day having signed some new lads.

“We beat them on the opening day of the season but it could be a tougher game this time around.”