Tara Murray
It has been a positive start for Westgate in the FV state league 1 north-west this season.
One of the new clubs in the division after earning promotion last season, Westgate has secured points in its first two matches.
Coach Jim Gacovski said they feel at home at this level early in the season.
“Things have started off well,” he said. “Last week we drew, which was a little unfortunate after being 2-0 up.
“Things are looking pretty positive.’
Gacovski said despite being one of the new teams in the competition they held pretty high expectations and want to play at the highest level possible
“We are striving to get to the next level,” he said. “But we are just focusing on taking it one week at a time.”
Gacovski said they had managed to keep most of last season’s squad together. He said they had looked to add a mixture of other players as they tried to get the right balance in the squad.
Peter Marinkovic, Ethan Tasevski, Emile Damey and Julio Beltran are four of the key signings for Westgate this season.
“We’ve added some experience and some youth as well,” Gacovski said.
“We kept the majority of the squad . It’s given us some balance there.”
After being at home the first two rounds, Westgate was on the road on Saturday.
Westgate played Corio, which has had an interesting start to the season which includes parting ways with their coach.
The teams traded goals in the opening five minutes, before a goal in the last 10 minutes gave Westgate the lead.
Westgate held on despite being a man down to win 2-1.
Before the match, Gacovski said they were expecting a tough challenge and it would be a good test for the boys.”
It will be a big week for Westgate, which is still alive in the Australia Cup.
The team will face Geelong Rangers in round four on Thursday night, before a break for the Easter long weekend.
