The Werribee Tigers climbed into the top four with a dominant 51-point demolition of Sandringham at Trevor Barker Beach Oval last Sunday as Ben Carbonaro and Brendan Lucas report.
In a round of upsets, including losses by the Northern Bullants and the Casey Scorpions, Werribee were given an opportunity that gave them a rare glimpse of September double chance glory.
After missing an opportunity to cement a top four position last week against Williamstown, the Tigers were looking to return to the winner’s list with a consistent performance against the Zebras.
Werribee gained the upper hand early with four goals to one in the opening quarter. Kicking into the wind seemed to help Werribee in front of goal and the home side struggled to contain the fast passing and pinpoint delivery on show. The Tigers led by 21 points at quarter time.
The game was far from over at half-time after the Zebras scored three goals to two and showed some improvement. Werribee led by 19 points at the main break.
The Zebras had hoped to keep themselves in the game in the third quarter but they buckled under Werribee’s pressure and continually turned the ball over. Werribee were able to get the ball forward quickly and increased their lead to a valuable 31 point lead at the final break.
Werribee’s back six were outstanding in the final quarter as they restricted Sandringham to just two behinds. The quarter was littered with stoppages as both sides tried hard to create scoring opportunities, but it was the Tigers who topped off an impressive four quarter performance.
Robbie Castello booted four goals in another consistent performance playing as a small crumbing forward, while Sam Wormald was best on ground for his role as a negating forward. North Melbourne’s Sudanese project player Majak Daw (21 hit-outs) stepped up in the ruck in the absence of fellow Kangaroo Hamish McIntosh and former Western Jet Kyle Hartigan was outstanding at back half.
Matt Boland topped the goal kicking list for Sandringham with two, while Steven Barker was best for the home side.
Coach Paul Satterley spoke about Castello’s performance, with his small forward finding consistent form in the VFL this season. He also lauded young gun Majak Daw who played one of his best games for the season, and could be pushing for AFL selection.
“To have a player offensively and defensively who is as good as he is, and leading our one percenters for the club working hard in the forward pocket and kicking goals is a nice mix,” he said.
“[Majak] was excellent today, that run down tackle made me think that if the rest of our players start doing that, it is going to go a long way to us winning the game.
“Majak today showed how far he has come in his football, and if he keeps playing like that it is going to make it hard for North not to pick him.”
And after such a dominant win, coach Paul Satterley believes that whilst now being positioned in the top four, the coming weeks will test Werribee’s true abilities.
“We have Bendigo next week, North Ballarat and then Casey both away. I think it is the first time I have mentioned top four to the players, but for us it is really about next week, and all our focus will go into trying to beat Bendigo,” he said.
Next for the Tigers is their final home game against Bendigo Bombers on Saturday and Sandringham travel to Casey Fields to face the Scorpions on Sunday.
Last Modified on 02/08/2011 14:58