With sketchy home form to start the season, Werribee simply had to turn a road game into a victory in Hockey Victoria men’s Vic League 2.
The Tigers had to travel more than an hour to do so, but came away with a confidence-boosting 2-0 win over Croydon Ranges at Yarra Valley Grammar on Saturday.
Tigers assistant coach Jayden Street said the team was happy with a job well done.
“Going into the game 1-2, we really needed to make sure we left there with the points,” he said. “Driving all the way out to Croydon, it was nice to come away with the points.”
The Tigers could ill afford to drop this one after losing their opening two home games.
“The two losses that we had were both home games and were both 2-1 results,” Street said.
“We were in them for the majority of the game … we just had to work on our finishing a little bit and put the score on the board.
“I didn’t think we were playing bad hockey at all – we just needed to capitalise on our opportunities.”
Werribee hardly put a foot wrong against Croydon.
The Tigers were stingy in defence, keeping a clean sheet, and did what they needed to do to secure the points in attack.
It was the work of the defence that won the day.
Tigers goalkeeper Aaron Durajski was impenetrable.
“Everything that came his way, he kept it out,” Street said. “They had about half a dozen short corners and he managed to keep every single one of them out.
“He keeps us in plenty of games. He’s a real key to our defence and sets up everyone in front of him and that’s why we don’t concede a lot of goals.”
Captain Sam Huxtable and forward Navi Singh scored for Werribee.
Singh’s goal was the final touch on a spectacular Tigers team play.
“The goal he scored was a fantastic team goal – one-touch passes right the way up the field,” Street said. “He was in the right spot and got a nice little tap in goal,” Street said.
“Navi’s quite skilful and he knows how to find the way to the back of the net. He’s added another layer to our forward line.”
Will it be home sweet home when Werribee returns to President’s Park on Saturday to face St Bede’s?
The Tigers are desperate to finally notch their first win in front of their home fans in 2018.
“St Bede’s are always up and around us in the league, so we expect it to be another tough game,” Street said.
“We haven’t got points at our ground yet, so the boys will be putting the hard yards in on the training track to make sure we rectify that and don’t let teams come to our ground and leave with our points.”
