By Lance Jenkinson
Werribee City coach Sergio Sabbadini has blasted his team after it wasted a golden opportunity to close in on the promotion places in National Premier League 2 west soccer.
The Bees targeted three weeks of games against relegation-threatened teams as a prime opportunity for quick ascension up the ladder.
Instead, it was been a period of frustration for Sabbadini, who has watched his side lose 1-0 to second-last Ballarat City and then draw 3-3 with bottom side Sunshine George Cross in consecutive weeks.
Second-last east conference side Nunawading City awaits the Bees this week.
“These are the games we need to be making up ground,” Sabbadini said.
“We tend to play better against the better sides and tend to play poorly against the easier sides and I can’t understand why. We’re still in it – if we go on a run and win the next two or three games, we’ll be right up there, but it’s not the point.
“Now it’s a bit out of our hands and we have to rely on teams dropping points.”
The defeat to Sunshine on home soil at Galvin Park was particularly galling for Sabbadini.
Twice the Bees trailed in the first half and twice striker Carlin Feely bailed them out to go to half-time at 2-2.
Feely brought up his hat-trick in the second half and the Bees fans were breathing a sigh of relief, thinking the three points were under lock and key. But Sunshine found an 81st minute equaliser through Ben Mammone, who scored a double for the Georgies.
Sabbadini was angry with the manner in which Werribee City conceded goals and was not mincing his words.
“We just kept making childish errors and it costs us,” he said.
If there was a positive to come out of the day for Werribee City, it was the performance of Feely, who scored in a variety of ways to at least earn a point for the Bees.
“One was a header from a cross, one was a bit of a scramble that he put away and the third one he got played through,” Sabbadini said. “He’s done well.”
New recruit Jake Butler and fellow midfielder Brad Murray were outstanding in the middle of the park.
“Our central midfielders pretty much controlled the game for us,” Sabbadini said.
“They were the ones that gave us that drive through the middle to get us forward.”
