WERRIBEE has impressed the champions that came before them in Hockey Victoria men’s Vic League 1.
The Tigers hosted a large number of their 1993 premiership-winning team for a 20-year reunion on Saturday, and all went home happy.
The present-day players put on a real show, beating Old Xaverians 3-1 at Presidents Park.
“The old boys were there and they really enjoyed it and got among the new boys,” Tigers captain Ross Cowlishaw told the Weekly.
“It was quite a good atmosphere down at the club. They were all chatting about the old times and how much they enjoyed our game. That meant a lot to the boys.”
The Tigers made a slow start, conceding the first goal of the match to David Duran. But it would merely be a blip on the radar for the Tigers, who gained control through a pair of goals to Sean Gardner to lead 2-1 by half-time.
“He did his job as an attacker,” Cowlishaw said. “He was in the right position on the post.”
The Tigers had the insurance goal they craved in the second half from the tireless Aidan Cowie.
Cowie scored in a similar fashion to Gardner, on the post for a deflection.
“Right place, right time again,” Cowlishaw said.
“All our goals were scored from about three metres from the goal; they were all close in.
“It’s good to see the things that we work on at training come out in a game situation.”
The Tigers’ defence was tight once again. Andrew Purcell, Daniel Collins and Haymish Wawatai barely gave the Xavs attackers a look in.
The Tigers have moved up to seventh and built a handy buffer between themselves and the relegation place.They will visit second-last Greater Dandenong Warriors on Saturday in a chance to move further away from the bottom two.
Meanwhile, Werribee was beaten 4-1 by Old Xaverians in the women’s Vic League 2. The lone Tigers’ goalscorer was Chloe Pickersgill.
