By Brad Hutchings @BradHutchings_

Northcote City has edged out a determined Werribee City outfit 3-1 in an entraining encounter at Galvin Park on Sunday.

Stuck down in the wrong end of the table and going through a rough trot of form, Werribee gave it to the 2013 Victorian Premier League champion in a dogged display that deserved more.

A Wade Dekker double proved the difference for Northcote who only sealed the points in stoppage time when substitute Gregorios Pitsokas found the back of the net at the end of a swift counter-attack by the visitors.

It was one of Werribee’s better efforts in recent weeks which in the end wasn’t enough to take a much needed three points. 

Evan Batsis grabbed Werribee’s only goal in the 22nd minute but was unluckly to be the only one.

Werribee began the game like a side desperate to win the contest, and threatened to scare Northcote with an early goal.

Despite the promising start by Werribee, it was Northcote who opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Dekker.

Jonathan Munoz sent Dekker goal bound courtesy of a delightful through-ball that cut open the defence, leaving Dekker one-on-one with Werribee goalkeeper Tommy Dunn, whom he got his shot pass expertly.

Northcote’s lead would only last 12 minutes however when Batsis did well in a crowded penalty box to find space and finish a Simon Zappia cross from the left.

Werribee dominated the remaining minutes of the half and came agonisingly close to taking a shock lead on multiple occasions. 

Simon Tolli and Zappia were the biggest threats to the Northcote goal in the dying stages of the first half, with Zappia denied a wonder goal by an equally wonderful save by Northcote custodian Chris Theodoridis, with the keeper tipping Zappia’s long-range effort over the crossbar.

The confidence Werribee gained from their first-half showing ended just four minutes into the second half when Dekker pounced to grab his second goal of the afternoon, after Dunn couldn’t properly deal with an earlier shot.

Werribee refused to give in after that goal and pushed Northcote all the way. 

The hosts dominated the final 15 minutes of the game but lacked that extra bit of class to find a goal. 

The closest Werribee came to finding an equaliser was in the 83rd minute when Batsis slammed his header from a corner onto the crossbar, and the ball fell on the wrong side of the line for the Bees.

With Werribee pushing hard in attack, Northcote took advantage in stoppage time as they rubber-stamped the three points thanks to Pitsokos’ goal.

Werribee coach Nino Ragusa was delighted after the game with the effort showed by his players in what has been a disappointed recent run of form.

“The performance was much, much better. A lot of things we’re working on, still critical moments that we can’t control,” Ragusa said.

“A big flaw in our game this year is dropping early goals in the half of either side. 

“First five minutes which we’ve got over we’ve really worked hard on that. But second half, four minutes in we’re back to 2-1.

“Our general play was excellent in the first half, it’s something we’ve really tried to push forward this year, and we will continue to work hard on.

“We’ve got a massive game against Ballarat next week, every game is a six-pointer for us. We’ll go at it again, I can’t complain with the endeavour of the players.”

Northcote boss Goran Lozanovski was pleased to get out of Werribee with the three points.

“This was a six-pointer for us. As a coach we threw a few young boys in today, which was in desperation mode in a sense because of our injuries but the young boys stood up today,” Lozanovski said.

“The game could have went either way, they probably had the opportunities and we rode our luck. We rode our luck we held on. 

“The substitutes were fantastic today, they all came on and did a job.”

MATCH DETAILS:

Werribee City 1 (Batsis 22’) defeated by Northcote City 3 (Dekker 10’ 49’, Pitsokos 90+3’) at Galvin Park. [HT:1-1] 

Werribee City: Tommy Dunn, Ryan Filipovic, Ersin Kaya, Robbie Naumoski (Dom Marafioti 60’), Milan Savic(C), Damir Marusic (Julien Cassona 80’), Devon Bonne, Bobby Vidanoski, Simon Zappia (Matt Cundari 55’), Simon Tolli, Evan Batsis.

Unused subs: Liam Brian, Roderick Yousef.

Yellow cards: None

Red Cards: None

Northcote City: Chris Theodoridis, Greg Lombardo, Philip Petreski, Jonathan Bounas(Anthony Rizik 63’), Liam Wooding (Marino Gasparis 84’), Aaron Ward, Kristian Konstantinidis, Michael Catalano (Gregorios Pitsokos 84’), Adrian Chiappetta, Wade Dekker, Jonathan Munoz. 

Unused subs: Luke Gavalas, Nasr Said. 

Yellow Cards: None

Red Cards: None

Image credit: Graeme Furlong