Ben Ross produced another stand-out performance for Werribee on the Friday night. 80213_19 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By MICHAEL ESPOSITO
A FIRST-QUARTER blitz helped set up an impressive 37-point win for Werribee against Geelong on Friday night.
The Tigers slammed on the first six goals of the match and staved off a spirited Geelong fightback in the second and third quarters to run out 17.10 (112) to 10.15 (75) victors.
Sam Gibson was awarded the Damian Drum medal for best on ground after his dominant midfield performance and three goals, while Ben Ross and Ben Sharp were also influential.
“The first quarter was our best quarter, not for the fact that we kicked those goals but I thought our pressure around the footy and we played a high percentage of game time in our forward 50, so that was really impressive,” Werribee coach Scott West said.
“In any game of footy you’re going to get challenged, and how you react to that challenge is what makes good teams. They’ve got some very good players in their team and we always knew that that would occur, but to hold them off and then go on with it was good.”
Werribee was able to capitalise on its first-quarter dominance, with Gibson’s sensational goal from the pocket, only to be topped by Robbie Castello’s magical goal shortly after, among the first quarter highlights.
But the real scen-stealer was Matthew O’Dwyer’s brilliant tackle to catch David Wojcinski holding the ball free kick. It was an act of desperation that set the tone for the whole match.
Even when the Cats clawed their way back into the contest, and deep into the third quarter were just three points behind, West was full of praise for his chargers.
“You don’t get to kick six goals in every quarter, footy’s not played like that,” he said.
“It’s a contest, and we contested all day. There’s a couple of times when they got around the back of us, but we contested all day and the longer you can contest the more you give yourself a chance of winning the game, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Gibson scored an important goal on the third quarter siren to give the Tigers a 15-point lead heading into the final term.
“His ability to pressure around the stoppage, create turnovers around stoppages makes him such a valuable players,” West said.
“He had about 40 (possessions) and kicked three, and as a midfielder you can’t ask for much more of a better game.”
West said he expected Nathan Ablett to get a run in the reserves next week, while Jarrod Mather may also be a chance to return from injury.
Werribee 17.10 (112) d Geelong 10.15-75.
Goals: Werribee: J. Purton-Smith 3, R. Tarrant 3. Geelong: M. Brown 3, O. Stephenson 2.
Best: Werribee: B. Ross, B. Sharp. Geelong: R. Condy, O. Stephenson.
