By Lance Jenkinson
For the past 25 years, Werribee Hockey Club’s heroes of 1993 have playfully ribbed the current generation of players for not being able to climb to the top of the mountain and break through for a men’s premiership.
The badgering can stop.
The Tigers finally broke their premiership drought with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bayside in the Hockey Victoria Vic League 2 grand final at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Sunday.
Tigers defender Jayden Street said the ribbing had played a positive role in the flag campaign.
“The guys from the premiership team 25 years ago have let us know every year since,” he said. “At the start of the year we said, ‘No, that’s not going to happen any more, it’s this year, it’s our time’.
“It’s been a long time, but we’ve made it happen.”
Of course, the biggest supporters of the current players are the greats of Werribee. Nearly all members of the 1993 premiership team were in attendance to see the Tigers get that elusive premiership
“We had almost the whole flag team from 25 years ago come out and support us,” Street said.
“They wanted us to win it as much as we wanted to win. At the ground, we probably had 4-to-1 spectators to what Bayside had. That’s how much it means to the club.”
After qualifying for the finals in fourth, Werribee had to the run the gauntlet in September.
The Andrew Purcell-coached Tigers beat third, second and first in cut-throat finals en route to the premiership.
“We finished fourth, so we had to go the hard road,” Street said. “We knew that if we got to the final, we deserved it. We went through all the top teams to earn the title.
“We beat everyone and no one can say we didn’t deserve it.”
In a tense final, it was not until 10 minutes to go that Werribee took the lead.
Captain Sam Huxtable flicked the ball, it deflected off a Bayside defender and then fortuitously into the roof of the net.
“We needed a goal and said ‘Hux, do your thing’,” Street said. “He’s the leading goalscorer in the league and he knows when it gets to the point of the game that we need him to score, he steps up and he delivers.”
Huxtable’s goal sparked huge celebrations for the Tigers, but they still had 10 minutes to defend their lead.
“We probably celebrated too much … we conceded a corner 30 seconds later,” Street said.
“I said to everyone at the corner, ‘That’s what you get for celebrating too much’.”
Bayside had one last opportunity to find an equaliser.
Awarded a penalty stroke, all that stood in their way was Werribee goalkeeper Aaron Durajski.
Durajski pulled off the save and preserved a match-winning lead for the Tigers.
Werribee kept a clean sheet with the veteran defender drawing most of the praise.
“He’s the pillar of our defence,” Street said. “He holds it all together.”
Werribee will join its women’s team Vic League 1 competition in 2019.
For more pictures of the grand final,
Pic Marco De Luca
