Werribee City relished its role as party-pooper in Sunshine George Cross’s farewell at Chaplin Reserve on Saturday.
The Bees claimed a 1-0 win in the historic NPL2 west game, protecting a second-minute lead after a goal from captain Gus Martin.
Bees’ coach Sergio Sabbadini didn’t want his players to get caught up in festivities on the day, not at least until after the referee blew the final whistle of the top-tier football season at the famous old ground.
“We spoke about that before the game,” Sabbadini said. “We’re coming here to win a game and we’ll join the party after.”
Werribee City was desperate to bounce back after a disappointing performance the previous week. The Bees have been tough to crack defensively since Sabbadini took the reins as coach, but conceded five goals in a dismal effort against Melbourne City a week earlier.
“We pride ourselves on our defensive game at the moment,” Sabbadini said.
“We were really disappointed with conceding five goals the week before, and we revisited that last week at training, and made sure everybody did their jobs properly this week … they were perfect.
“They couldn’t break us down.”
Werribee City gave promising teenager Cameron Markie his first start. At just 16, Markie slotted into full-back and looked right at home, the latest teenager Sabbadini has given first team action.
“I don’t care how old they are, they’ve just got to be good enough, and they’ve got to have the right attitude – then they can play,” Sabbadini said.
“Not to say he’ll play every week, but he’s certainly got a good future.
“Yasin [Nur] was 15 when we gave him a game, Ibby [Mohamed] is 17, Cameron is 16, Zach [Ahmad] is 18, Ben Mammone is 19.
“We’re a pretty young group that’s for sure. We’re sort of getting things ready for next year now.”
Werribee City will round out its season hosting Bendigo City at Galvin Park on Saturday. Meanwhile, Hoppers Crossing are champions of the FFV women’s state league 4 west.
The Reds capped a fine season with a 6-0 thrashing of Kyneton District at Grange Reserve on Sunday night.
Sarah Sumner fired in a hat-trick for the Reds; they finished one point clear of Spring Hills at the top of the ladder. Other Reds’ scorers were Bosiljka Jovetic, Jovana Vukovic and Leonora Wharehinga.
