By Tara Murray
Things are starting to come together for Werribee City in the Victorian Premier League 2 competition.
The Bees have claimed points in five of their last seven matches and have moved into the top half of the table.
Coach Craig Moore said it had been hard work, but they were slowly getting there.
“There’s still been a little bit of hard work,” he said. “We’ve had some injuries but the boys have been stepping up on the back of some good defence efforts mainly.
“The next few weeks are important for us.”
Having struggled in recent seasons, the turnaround defensively has been big for the Bees, who have the second best defensive record in the league.
Moore said work on that started last year.
“The good thing is the defensive side of things is keeping us in the game for a long time and sometimes we only need that one goal to get the prize,” he said.
“We made some changes last year. Our goalkeeper changed and pretty much our whole defensive back four.
“There is competition for those places. People get an opportunity and know they have to perform, which is really good.
Moore said they were keen to turn some of those draws into wins with the ladder being so close.
“We have had five draws,” he said before the weekend’s matches. “Altona City is only one point behind us and have one draw and lost eight games.
“We have lost four games but are only one point ahead of them. We need to turn those draws into wins and we’re working pretty hard on the attacking side of the game.”
On Friday night, the Bees face Springvale, who are the only side with a better defensive record than the Bees.
The Bees suffered a slight hiccup as they lost 1-0. The Eagles scored the winning goal in the 51st minute.
They then face a struggling Boroondara-Carey Eagles side.
Moore said both of those matches would be challenging on some tough grounds.
He said he spoke with the group about continuing what they had been doing.
“We need to continue to build on this run of results,” he said. “Anyone in the league can beat anyone.
“Any side can get on a run of results and they can fly up the ladder.
“I’m happy at the moment, just creating and scoring more would make me even happier.”
Meanwhile in FV state league 3 north-west, Hoppers Crossing beat Diamond Valley United, 3-2. Konstandinos Paganis scored two late goals for the Reds to claim the match.
The Reds sit in eighth spot.
In state league 4 west, Point Cook and West Point both suffered losses, while in state league 5 wst, Wyndham, Tarneit United and Truganina were also all on the losing side.
