Werribee City is down … but not out.
The Bees have endured a horror start to the NPL season thanks to the fixture-makers, winless in seven games with just three points in the bank after facing six of the top seven clubs in the 14-team league.
After a 1-1 draw with title contenders Hume City at Galvin Park on Easter Monday, the schedule should start to open up for the Bees, with Port Melbourne Sharks the only team in the top seven they will have to face until the return matches.
Performances have been more solid for the Bees than the points tally would suggest.
The side has confronted powerhouse teams on a weekly basis and been competitive despite missing out on that elusive win.
“We’ve played a lot of measuring sticks,” Bees assistant coach Agim Sherifovski told Star Weekly.
“I think the result is one thing and the performance is another thing.
“The performances have been pleasing but, at this level, it is about the result.
“As a coach you need to draw some positives out of each game.
“And there have been positives,” he said.
Hume City drew first blood through a goal to Isyan Erdogan in the 10th minute.
Not unlike a number of goals the Bees have conceded this season, this one came through a defensive blunder. Bees defender Nicola Carofiglio tried to clear from the last line and the ball ricocheted off Erdogan and into the goal.
Sherifovski said the blame was twofold; poor clearance from Carofiglio and a lack of communication from goalkeeper Frano Saric to his defender.
“The reality is we still make too many self-inflicted errors under no pressure.
“If you make enough of them, you tend to have momentum swing the other way to your opponent and it can hurt you.”
Having conceded the goal, the Bees got on the front foot in search of an equaliser.
Daniel Chaabani was a driving force at left back for them with a number of overlapping runs.
Rob Naumoski and Chris Cristaldo had the Hume defenders on their toes.
The Bees’ weight of possession would tell five minutes after the break when Simon Zappia made a run into the box and got clipped from behind to earn the penalty.
Cristaldo stepped up from the spot to score the equaliser – a deserving goal in a strong game for the former Melbourne Victory player, who played well in a roaming role behind the strikers.
It would be the game’s last goal after both side’s defences finished well on top.
Steven Cudrig and Ryan Filipovic stymied whatever the Hume attack could throw at them, while Hume’s backline was just as sturdy.
“They actually lifted their possession game, they lifted their intensity, but we defended well,” Sherifovski said of the last 35 minutes.
“We also got to their box quite well … but they kept us at bay in and around it.
“We just lacked that final quality and their central defence was quite strong.”
The Bees will be desperate to claim their first victory of the season when they host Pascoe Vale at Galvin Park on Sunday.
