By Lance Jenkinson
After dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s in a round one win over Croydon, Werribee quickly turned its attention to the local derby against Hoppers Crossing starting on Saturday in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.
The Tigers will have plenty to play for when they make the short trip to Hogans Road Reserve for one of the most anticipated clashes every season on the Wyndham cricket calendar.
Tigers captain Tim O’Brien was not playing down the importance of the two-day battle of Wyndham.
“That’s the local derby,” O’Brien said.
“It’s starting to build that rivalry.
“We’ve got the relationship with the Movember game we play against each other so we know a lot of their players and want to get the bragging rights over them.”
Hoppers Crossing captain Justin Goegan was happy to play his part in building up the local stoush.
Goegan sees Werribee as a big scalp for more reasons than one.
“We always look forward to playing against Werribee,” Goegan said.
“They’ve always been one of the better sides since we’ve been in the sub-district comp, so it’s always good to test yourselves against them.
“There’s also a little bit of rivalry, so there’s nothing better than beating Werribee.”
Werribee was fairly clinical in its victory over Croydon away at Croydon Park.
The Tigers set up their victory on day one, skittling Croydon for just 110.
Jonathan Burton was the chief destroyer for Werribee with 4-17 off 14.1 overs.
“He doesn’t miss his mark too often,” O’Brien said.
“He’s definitely someone you can rely on with the ball.”
Brad Apps was the other standout with the ball for Werribee with 3-21 off 10 overs.
Apps took three crucial middle order wickets when Croydon appeared to be digging in.
“Appsy just attacked the stumps,” O’Brien said.
“He got some crucial wickets for us on the first day.”
Starting day two at 1-49, Werribee did not exactly cruise to the target.
The Tigers eventually got there with four wickets in hand, but did it with a little bit of a struggle.
Adam Alifraco’s top-score of 36 all came on the first day.
The patient Andrew Ford (23) and James Freeman (26 not out) were the standouts of the chase on day two.
With 1-39 with the ball, Freeman had a solid all-round game, but was not helped out by his teammates or the umpires.
“He had a couple of caught behinds not given out in the first innings and he had two dropped catches in his first over of the second dig,” O’Brien said.
“He’s made a positive start to the year with both bat and ball.
“He’s charging in pretty hard for us.
“He’s fighting fit and ready to go this season.”
