Harper Sercombe
Point Cook Centrals have completed the upset of the Western Region Football League division 1 season, knocking off the undefeated Werribee Districts.
After being down by seven points at quarter time, the Sharks piled on six goals in the second quarter giving themselves a lead at the main break.
The Sharks stayed in control during the third adding another four majors to Werribee’s three. They managed to hold on in the last, with no thanks to inaccurate kicking, 1.5 to their score.
However, it was enough to secure the six point win, 13.11 (89)- 12.11 (83).
Sharks coach Dean Chambers said the unbelievable win was reward for effort, in their first season up in the top division.
“[Werribee Districts] probably weren’t at their best,” he said. “We took advantage of it and played some really good team footy.”
After losing to Tigers by 58 points earlier in the season, Chambers said he was pleased to see the improvement within his team.
“[Last time we played] they kicked 15 goals so we felt as if we could take four goals away from them and add half a dozen to ourselves, we could bridge the gap,” he said.
“We just played a really good fast attacking brand of football.”
After not losing a game last season in division 2, Chambers said he has been happy with how the team has adapted to the higher division.
“It’s a fast brand of football, it probably suits our brand a little bit because we like to play that attacking style of footy,” he said.
“We just had to get a little bit fitter and really hone in on our skills over the preseason and we thought we’d be able to match it.
“Our percentage reflects that… we haven’t been blown out of the water, there’s only two sides this year who have kicked 100 points or more against us.
“So our back end is really holding firm and that again showed on Saturday to keep Werribee Districts to only 12 goals, over the course of the day was a huge effort from our back six.”
With finals off the cards for the Sharks, good form and wins is really important to carry momentum into the preseason Chambers said.
“We got the group in together and basically we decided that we’ve got a month of footy left. Our preseason for 2024 has started already,” he said.
“We’re going to approach these last four games as learning opportunities.
“It’s going to fast track our group, we’ve blooded about 10 debutants this year being kids being out of under 18s or playing under 18s.”
The Sharks play sixth placed Caroline Springs this Saturday and Chambers is confident the team can back up this week’s performance, against a side fighting for a finals spot.
“So it’s another challenge for us, but rather than talking about challenges, we talk about opportunities,” he said.
“We’ve just got to take our opportunities when they present and play four good quarters of footy.”
In other matches, Point Cook beat Altona to move back into the top two and Hoppers Crossing fell just short against Spotswood.
