On the surface, a miserly return of one point from a potential nine would suggest Werribee City are set for another tough season in the NPL.
Yet off the back of their 1-1 draw against Bentleigh, the talk around the grounds wasn’t about whether Bentleigh played poorly, it was about how improved the Bees had looked.
They were a solid outfit in defence, with midfielders that weren’t afraid to play a forward pass, and plenty of penetration and zip on the wings, with new signing Christopher Cristaldo aiding their cause.
But it was this changed perception of sorts that was intriguing, as Werribee football looks to now have a positive connotation, in media circles at the very least.
Coach Nino Ragusa was taking it all in his stride, admitting their possession game style has improved this year on last, despite the results not coming in the early stages of the season.
“I’ve been happy with all our performances actually. To an extent, our performance [on Wednesday] was our best, coming out of Heidelberg’s game,” Ragusa said.
“Even though [Bentleigh] were coming at us, we didn’t hoof the ball anywhere, we kept it in patches.
“It’s a young team, which is gaining experience at this level. That [performance] was excellent, still not enough to win it but when you see signs like that, it’s positive [from a young group].”
It’s all well and good to praise the way a side is playing if the scorecard backs up those claims, but surprisingly Weribee’s results – or non-results so far – still point to a strong improvement.
They started the season off last year with a 4-0 loss to Green Gully and more tellingly, their last appearance at Kingston Heath against Bentleigh ended in a 4-0 hiding of Ragusa’s side.
“Those results aren’t happening anymore,” the head coach said, after a third competitive outing in a row.
“We don’t have the six points that other teams have at the moment, but the run we’re having is very difficult – but we can take teams to the wire.
“I’d love to go out and say we can play like Bentleigh. Compliments to them – they play the best football in the league.
“The way they move, the way they rotate around, excellent. But we’d like to think that we can really improve that [possession aspect] of our game. “
In reference to the long-term goal of the club, Ragusa candidly admitted that the club had outlined a three-year plan, one based on steady improvement, which the head coach hopes to adhere to come season’s end.
“Our club still stays on the right track.”
“We’ve got a three-year NPL license. We’re in the top tier of the NPL and our aim is to be one of the better sides at the end of the three-year period.
“So finishing 12th last year, we expect anything better this year, ninth, even seventh. We expect then to extend that next year.
“We don’t have the resources, the big money like some of these clubs have just to go purchase what you want. We’ve got our purpose, we’ve got our aim, that’s how we’re going to do it and we’re going to stick that way.”
Werribee City get the chance to gain their very first win of season 2015 as they host reigning champions South Melbourne. Kick-off at Galvin Park is scheduled for 3:00pm.
Photo: Skip Fulton (NPL Vic Football)