There was a sense of urgency for the Werribee Tigers.
A patchy month of form in the rear view mirror and a tough road ahead, the date with ladder leaders Box Hill Hawks was as close to a must-win as it gets for a Tigers team yearning for a premium spot in this year’s VFL finals.
The Tigers rose to the occasion, upsetting the Hawks for the second time this season by 13 points at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday, and, more importantly, arresting their mini slide in recent weeks.
“These are a really important four points today,” Tigers coach John Lamont told Star Weekly.
“Terrific win because of the importance on the back of two narrow losses at home.
“If you don’t win today, they end up being costly because we’ve got a couple of clubs like Port Melbourne and Geelong on the improve and snapping at your heels a bit and you’re sitting in eighth spot.
“We’ve had four at home, we’ve now got three away games against all teams above us, Casey, Essendon and Williamstown, before finishing with Footscray in the last game, which is an incredibly tough draw.”
The Tigers were eager from the outset.
They did not let an unlucky toss of the coin dictate their endeavour from the first bounce.
To be just one point down at quarter time into a stiff breeze showed how defensively aware the Tigers were from the first bounce
“It was a terrific first quarter by our blokes,” Lamont said.
“We were a point down but that was into the breeze.
“I think the win was set up by that first quarter.”
The Tigers created a significant buffer at half time with a five goals to two second term.
After letting leads slip in the previous two games, they would not be chased down this time around, maintaining breathing space on the visitors throughout a hard fought contest.
The margin would have been bigger if not for the Tigers return of 1.5 from six scoring shots and a handful of shots that went out of bounds in the last quarter.
“The game was played in our half in the last quarter,” Lamont said.
“We could’ve put them away, there were a couple of chances there but we didn’t take them.
“It was a tough day, wet conditions, but really pleased with the way our blokes kept at it and prevailed in the end.”
The defensive duo of Scott McMahon and Jake Wilson stood head and shoulders above the rest of the players on the ground.
McMahon provided a cool head at times when the Tigers were on the back foot.
“He’s a massive inclusion in our team because of that experience and setting them up on a wet day and making the right choices,” Lamont said.
Wilson had the unenviable task of keeping Hawks forward Sam Grimley grounded.
Grimley finished the game goal-less, although it was not a day suited to tall forwards.
“He was a key match-up and again he done a really good job on a key forward for the opposition,” Lamont said.
“He’s had a terrific year, he’s really going well now.”
Young Tigers forward Josh Porter was competitive inside forward 50, bringing the ball down to his crumbers, while Isaac Conway continued his consistent form.
Kieran Harper and Ben Speight bobbed up with two valuable goals apiece in a low-scoring game.
The Tigers are sitting in eighth, but are just two games off top spot, which illustrates the closeness of this year’s competition.
Lamont has implored his side to maintain its pursuit of a top-four finish.
“We don’t want to finish eighth,” he said.
“We’ve got four games to go, if you win three, who knows, you might sneak up and grab fourth spot.”
The Tigers will make the long trip to Cranbourne on Sunday to face seventh-placed Casey Scorpions.
After impressive form on the road earlier in the year, Lamont is adamant the Tigers do not fear leaving the cage.
“We’ve won at Port Melbourne and we’ve won out at Box Hill, so our blokes take a fair level of confidence into these away games,” he said.
