By Tara Murray
Werribee played some of its best football under Jimmy Allan as it got on the board in the Victorian Football League this season.
After a round one loss in the grand final rematch against Southport, the Tigers on Saturday faced an Essendon side full of confidence after a first up win.
It was a slow start for the Tigers, who trailed by seven points at half time.
Seven goals to one in the third quarter broke open the game for the Tigers and they were able to maintain it in the final quarter to come away with an 11.12 (78)-7.13 (55) win.
Allan said it was nice to get the monkey off the back.
“The boys played well and I’m happy with the result,” he said. “I thought at times in round one we did enough and it was frustrating.
“We had our chances in the first half on the weekend but put ourselves under pressure. We played well in the second half.”
Allan said in the first half they struggled with their execution which had been an issue in round one as well.
He said they gave away a couple of soft goals on quarter time and weren’t able to make the most of their work.
After half time, it was a different story as the Tigers got on top and gave Allan a sight into what they can do this season.
“We played some of the best football I have seen us play,” he said. “It was nice to cash in, in the third quarter.
“We defended really well. Essendon the week before wanted to move the ball slow and we were able to slow that down.
“There were good signs. It was always going to take a while to achieve our best with new players coming into the side.
“It was nice on the weekend.”
Flynn Young and Hudson Garoni kicked two goals each for the Tigers.
Dom Brew had 33 possessions, while Louis Pinnuck had 32.
Allan said Brew was sensational at what he does best on the weekend, shutting down an opposition midfielder and winning plenty of the ball.
Jaelen Pavlidis moved back into defence, a role he is more familiar with, and was fantastic, while Flynn Yong continues to impress with his work rate and Louis Pinnuck also had a good game.
Werribee welcomed back premiership players Jay Dahlhaus and Sam Conway to the side on the weekend and both had an impact.
Allan said Dahlhaus brings plenty of energy to the side, while Conway had a really good contest with AFL 300-game player Todd Goldstein in the ruck.
The coach said what was impressive to him was that the next generation led by Dahlhaus, Young and Pavlidis are really stepping up.
“They are established players in the competition now,” he said. “They have accepted the challenge of leadership roles.
“They have been setting the tone.”
It will be a big round three for Werribee this Saturday, as it is at home for the first time this season, starting at 1.05pm.
The club will unveil its premiership banner before the match with the Footscray Bulldogs.
Allan said it would be a pretty big day for the club.
“It’ll be a very exciting day and to go with it, they are a really good football side [Bulldogs],” he said.
“Amongst all the joys and celebrations we have a job to do and we are preparing to take on the bulldogs.”
