Tara Murray
Werribee City will take plenty of positives out of its opening round draw with Brunswick Juventus in the National Premier League 2 on Friday night.
After an off season of change, the match was the first chance to look at the Bees under new coach Domenic Barba.
With the final score 1-1, Barba said there were a lot of good things to take out of the match.
“It was a good start to the season, it was important to get something away from home,” he said.
“We’re a new team that is still getting to know each other. Some players have only come in the last two to three weeks.
“We had an opportunity to win the game. The most pleasing thing was the way that they worked for each other.
“As a club we’ve not seen that for a long time.”
Scores were locked at 0-0 at half time before Juventus opened the scoring in the 60th minute through Jay Kelly.
Mark Kurita was able to hit back five minutes later for the Bees to level the scores.
Barba said the match showed that the side was willing to work hard and won’t be easy to beat this season.
“We played quality opposition,” he said. “We worked for each other and were strong.
“It was really exciting to watch as a team.
“The last 10 to 15 minutes the quality was at a new level that we had not seen before.”
Barba said for much of the game the side was focused on trying to stop Juventus, not playing their game.
He said it was something that they could work on. Despite that, they had several opportunities to find a second goal.
Barba said a draw was probably a fair result for the game.
“Away from home we showed that we are a team of fighters with huge talent and ability,” he said.
“It’s awesome to start the season in this position.”
The next period of matches is important for the Bees, with 11 of their next 12 games at home.
Their home ground won’t be available late in the season due to the women’s world cup.
Barba knows they need to make the most of being at home.
“We need to make the next 10 weeks count for everything,” he said. “Not only what we brought on Friday, but showing our overall ability to push teams.”
The Bees this week face Preston Lions who started the season with a 2-1 loss to Pascoe Vale.
Barba said it presents a different sort of challenge.
