Werribee City has climbed out of the NPL’s torture chamber for a week at least.
Nine hellish games without a point and 10 without a win had started to grate on the Bees faithful.
In nine previous starts, the Bees conceded a woeful 29 goals and scored just three, and they had three different coaches in charge, including first timer David Maglovski, who stepped up from the under-20s to took over from caretaker Tony Trifunov during the week
But the Bees were smiling again on Sunday after they produced an upset 2-1 win over Northcote City at Galvin Park, picking up their first points since a 2-2 draw with Dandenong Thunder way back on May 23.
“We’re one of the teams in the league who are fighting relegation,” Bees technical director Domenico Gangemi told Star Weekly.
“We’re trying to do our best to stay in the league.
“They’re playing with heart and they’re putting in effort on the pitch.
“We’re happy with the win, we’ll enjoy this one today, but then tomorrow we’ll start training and try to prepare for the next match against Oakleigh, another tough game on Friday night.
“We have another two matches and we’re trying to win them to help us get to the playoff.”
The Bees went into the game as underdogs but did not read the script, striking first through Bobby Vidanoski, who smashed home the game’s opening goal in the 24th minute when Northcote failed to clear a free kick.
It was just the tip of the iceberg for Vidanoski with the winger producing a man of the match effort in the win.
“He created a lot of chances and scored a good goal,” Gangemi said.
“In my opinion, everyone deserved to be in the best on ground, they all played a fantastic match.”
Soon after Vidanoski’s goal, the Bees would have that familiar sinking feeling when Northcote’s Calvin Mbarga was played through for the equalising goal.
The teams went into the half time break locked at one apiece, a fair reflection of the first half.
The second half saw Northcote begin strongly, but it was the Bees captain Milan Savic who produced the goal that would ultimately split the two sides.
Savic chased down a back pass and out-smarted Northcote goalkeeper Chris Theodoridis, taking the ball from his feet and popping it into the net in the 71st minute.
The last 19 minutes were nervous times for the Bees, but they held on for a deserved victory.
“Very very good win,” Gangemi said.
“Northcote are a tough team, it was a tough match.”
What the three points has done is give the Bees a genuine hope of survival.
They have moved up to third-last on the ladder on goal difference with two games to go – a position on the ladder that would give them a playoff game against the third-ranked NPL1 side after the season to save themselves from relegation.
