By LIAM TWOMEY
AFTER a tough month Werribee returned to the winners list on Saturday, accounting for Coburg by 89 points in the Victorian Football League.
In a battle between the competition’s two Tigers, it was the Werribee variety which came out snarling during a dominating first quarter.
Werribee booted nine goals to open up a 36-point lead at the first break.
There was no letting up either as 14 goals in the next two quarters blew Coburg away and the margin hovered around the triple-digit mark.
With the rain coming and the conditions turning slippery, goals became harder to find in the last quarter as Werribee secured the 27.10 (172) to 12.11 (83) win.
After conceding some big scores this season Werribee coach Scott West was rapt with his side’s defensive effort.
“Today it was a really pleasing effort,” he said.
“I think we got our match ups right. Unfortunately defenders can get loaded with goals against but I think the pressure through the middle part of the ground was a lot better today.
“The pressure from our forwards was a lot better and that makes the defender’s job so much easier. That was a big focus for us, to make sure our forwards were the ones starting it.”
It was the Ben show on the Werribee forward line as Ben Warren (six goals) and Ben Brown (five goals) ran rings around the Coburg defenders.
Scott Clouston and Addam Maric also booted three goals each for the winners while for Coburg, Ben Clifton was named best on ground.
West highlighted the performance of off-season forward recruits Brown and Clouston post match.
“He (Brown) has been terrific,” West said. “He brought himself over to try and get to the next level. The easy option would have been for him to stay in Glenorchy and play footy there but he challenged himself as a young kid to come over here.
“Each week he is getting a better understanding of VFL footy. It is probably a little bit more intense than where he was.
“He (Brown) and Clouston are starting to work together with Warren. These things take time and I think we started to see a bit of a result to that today.”
The result sees Werribee improve to a 3-4 win/loss record after seven games and occupy ninth place on the VFL ladder.
This week the Tigers have a bye in the VFL as they prepare for their opening clash of the Foxtel Cup competition.
Werribee will take on Queanbeyan at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday 28 May.
The Tigers came second in the competition last year.
