WERRIBEE has suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Box Hill, going down by 12 points despite holding a six-goal lead at quarter time.
The Tigers came into the game knowing they could ill afford to drop the match against the previously winless Hawks, with a significant win needed to cement a push for the top eight.
The Hawks refused to let Werribee play its usual attacking brand of football, forcing a swathe of errors and turnovers.
Werribee got off to a superb start, booting six goals to none in the first term, gaining the ascendancy.
The second and third terms saw the Tigers fall away sharply, with any momentum quickly evaporating. The Hawks booted 10.3 to Werribee’s 1.9 for the two quarters, setting up the victory in hard, tough conditions. A pumped-up Werribee kicked the first three of the final term, but the Hawks weren’t letting it slip, with their pressure exemplary.
Ben Ross, one of Werribee’s better players with 18 touches, four clearances and four tackles, said that Box Hill had the drive in the fourth quarter.
"They were obviously pretty fired up; they just seemed to want it a bit more towards the end of the game, so that’s pretty disappointing."
"Like Axe [coach Simon Atkins] said we played a good quarter and that’s obviously not good enough at this level, we know we’ve got it there, we’ve just got to put it all together to get wins."
The Tigers have struggled to put four quarters together all year, which has hurt them as they have the potency to win games. Ross mentioned the need for more consistent football.
"We’ve just got to put four consistent quarters of footy together which we haven’t really done this year, and that’s going to be our focus over the next few weeks."
A sombre Atkins agreed. "Our consistency; that was the factor. The second quarter wasn’t that flash, the third quarter wasn’t that flash. That’s all it is, we’ve got a young group, and you only become a better player and a better team if you can get some consistency in everything."
"I won’t be harping on it. We will take some of the negatives out of the game and try to work on those and see what we can do from there."
Credit where credit is due for the Hawks, who snagged their first win of the season thanks to players such as Nathan Bastanis and Josh Kennedy, who were absolutely everywhere, with 56 touches between the pair.
For the Tigers Jackson Sheringham and Alan Obst were good on return, while Todd Goldstein had a mammoth 34 hitouts.
With their season now on a knife’s edge, the importance of next week’s away game in Tasmania cannot be underestimated.
Box Hill 0.7 5.7 10.10 13.12 (90) defeated
Werribee 6.1 7.5 7.10 11.16 (82)
Goals: Werribee – Podsiadly 3, Warren 2, Henderson, McMahon, Wormald, Hansen, Obst, Eddy. Box Hill – Kenna 3, Grima 2, Whitecross, Neville, Breese, Dowler, McEntee, Dawson, Morrell, Moss.
Best: Werribee – Gleeson, Ross, Sheringham, Young, Obst, Goldstein, Saker Box Hill – Bastanis, Kennedy, Kenny, Whitecross, Dowler
Last Modified on 18/06/2008 22:11