Werribee City coach Nino Ragusa was pleased with his side’s 3-0 away win over Dandenong Thunder at George Andrews Reserve, praising the performance level of his determined, young team.
He reserved special praise for the way his side played as a team, allowing them to defy the odds and overcome an impressive Thunder side on the Sunday night.
“The boys were fantastic and I think there’s more to come – you can’t come here and rely on one or two players,” Ragusa said.
“You have to come to these places and really have a good team game or else you’re just going to get slaughtered.”
Werribee came into the clash wearing the underdog tag and were thoroughly pressured throughout the first hour of play but stormed home to escape with three points en route to humiliating the home side.
“We know [Dandenong are] an exceptional side – they’ve had some excellent results at home,” the Werribee boss said.
“We know they’re a good side, they come out quick, very sharp team and we knew we had to absorb it a little bit. At half time the encouragement was to go at them a little bit too.”
Ragusa warned his charges against complacency, declaring playing opportunities will be given to players who “really earn it,” and could look to tweak his lineup when the window opens.
“[We] definitely can’t keep any players in any comfort zone,” he said.
“A lot of players have been given the opportunity to play at this level which I promised the boys from last year with their promotion but at the same time, the opportunity is there.
“If I see some boys step up, they’ll stay…If not, we might have to tweak,” he added.
City will look to improve on their possession and discipline when they host undefeated South Melbourne on Sunday.
“Possession we’ve still got to improve,” Ragusa said.
“You can see it in the games we play, we still get outplayed a little bit but that doesn’t mean it’s really overbalanced in their favour, it’s just if you keep shape and keep discipline, you can absorb it.”
The Werribee boss also admitted his side needed to work on their ability begin matches well and come out firing in order to succeed in a competitive NPL competition.
“For some reason we’re slow out of the blocks,” said Ragusa.
“We got caught in the first two or three minutes last week against Pascoe Vale – maybe they’re still young and raw.
“Teams really come at you from the first minute in this league, they really come at you hard and you’ve really got to be spot on.”
Werribee City will be hoping to end South Melbourne’s unbeaten run when they welcome the league leaders to Galvin Park on Sunday afternoon, with kick-off scheduled for 3:00pm.