Werribee coach Andrew Purcell described Saturday’s disappointing 3-2 road loss to Knox in Hockey Victoria men’s Vic League 2 as a “rude awakening”.
The Tigers might have been lulled into a false sense of security after hammering the same opponent in a pre-season warm-up match and entering the contest on the back of a cruisy 4-1 season-opening win over Monash University.
If the Tigers thought they were going to be untouchable after going down to a lower grade this season they soon learnt otherwise.
“We might’ve got a bit ahead of ourselves,” Purcell said. “Some of the guys [were] thinking … we’d go through the season easily and make the finals.
“It was a little bit of a shock to the system because we played them in a pre-season tournament and absolutely wiped the floor with them.”
The Tigers wounds were mainly self-inflicted. They missed a plethora of goal-scoring chances and Knox made them pay for turnovers at the other end.
“It definitely wasn’t from a lack of opportunities,” Purcell said.
“We controlled most of the play, probably we had well over 15 scoring attempts and the same amount of short corners. We just could not convert. It was one of those days.”
The ever-reliable Sam Huxtable got on the scoresheet for the second time in as many games. The club’s leading scorer and club champion from a season ago has hit the ground running in 2015.
“He’s got good foot speed, a high workrate and his skills are phenomenal,” Purcell said. “He has that ability to break a game open.”
Jayden Street scored the Tigers’ other goal, but Purcell was left to lament a raft of missed opportunities while acknowledging the work at the back of the Knox last line.
“At various times there were different guys in positions to score and we didn’t have things roll our way,” he said. “Their goalie pulled off some absolute pearlers of saves.
“Late in the game, we had a three on two in the circle. We had a guy with an open net and the goalie was eliminated … we took too long on the ball and it allowed their defender to get back and make a crucial save. It was a real frustrating day.”
The Tigers will be further tested when undefeated WestVic Hockey arrive at Presidents Park on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a tough contest, but it’s always good when we get back playing at the Cage,” Purcell said.
