Tara Murray
A momentary lapse early proved costly for Werribee City in the National Premier League 2 on Saturday.
Facing Northcote City, the Bees were on the backfoot early after Dennis Menelaou gave Northcote the lead in the second minute.
That would be the only goal, to hand the Bees their second loss of the season.
Coach Domenic Barba said he wasn’t happy with the outcome.
“The first half we let ourselves down a little bit,” he said. “We made an error early in the game and it was ultimately the deciding error.
“We responded really well and clawed our way back out of a difficult situation. We were better in the second half.”
Barba said they pride themselves on their defence, so conceding so early in the game wasn’t ideal.
He said the reality is one mistake can prove costly and it puts the pressure back on the side, instead of it being the other way.
“We need to get better in crucial moments,” he said. “We’ve played five games and there’s still 21 games to go.
“We need to get a consistent run at and make winning a habit.”
Barba said for the group getting a few wins on the board will help. While it’s a different line up to last season, it has been a tough couple of years, and there hasn’t been a lot of wins.
“It was one of the things I said after the match against Dandenong [which they lost 3-3],” he said.
“We were 2-0 up and in a winning position. We’re getting into winning possessions, but not doing enough to get the points.”
The Bees this week face Western United’s NPL side. United beat Dandenong City 1-0 on the weekend, with Barba saying the result could have easily been a four or five goal lead.
United sit fifth on the table.
“They are a really good side,” Barba said. “This game will test us and we will be up for it.”
