Westgate kept a clean sheet, scored six goals and preserved its spot at the top of the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 2 north-west ladder, but that was not enough to satisfy captain Milan Savic.
The scoreboard only served to mask a disjointed Westgate performance in a 6-0 victory over a struggling Westvale at McKechnie Reserve on Saturday.
Savic blasted his players for their individualism at times and failure to adhere to the team’s game plan set out by coach Tony Trifunov.
“The six-nil score doesn’t resemble the way we actually played the game,” Savic said.
“For me, the performance was really disappointing from the team, the quality of football, what I expect from my players, wasn’t there.
“We know we’re playing against a team that has struggled so far, so we need to work on our game more than anything, but when you play the bottom teams, you tend to drop down to their level.
“You see the gaps and some of the young guys eyes start lighting up and everyone wants to score.
“I just get really disappointed when we have a game plan and we don’t execute it.”
Westgate had the three points as good as locked away by half-time, leading 3-0.
The visiting Westgate scored another three more goals in the second half to complete the rout.
Djordje Aleksic was the main weapon for Westgate with a double, while Savic, Stevce Dimcevski, Alexander Petrovski and Kacper Hubiak completed the scoring.
While disappointed with the mentality of his team in an offensive sense, Savic was pleased with Westgate’s defensive third and work rate from defensive midfield positions.
A stingy team, Westgate has conceded on average just 0.42 goals per game over the opening seven rounds.
Savic admits that he is “nervous” about what kind of mentality Westgate takes into Saturday evening’s mouth-watering top-of-the-ladder showdown with Whittlesea United at Ardeer Reserve.
“That’s the one to look forward to,” he said.
“There’s things I like with the way we play, but it’s the way the boys rock up on the weekend.
“Every time we’ve stuck to the game plan, we dominate.”
In other games, Brimbank Stallions had a 2-0 win over Altona East Phoenix while Cairnlea suffered a 3-2 loss to Corio.
In men’s state league 1, North Sunshine Eagles were knocked off top spot after a 2-1 loss to Western Suburbs, while Keilor Park and Sydenham Park played out a 1-1 draw.
The big result in men’s state league 4 saw Western Eagles slaughter second-placed Truganina Hornets 8-2.
Spring Hills and Altona North played out a nil-all draw in the battle between two contending sides.
There were plenty of goals in men’s state league 5 too with Westside Strikers Caroline Springs pummelling Melbourne Lions 7-0.
In women’s state league 3, St Albans continued their blistering start to the season with a 5-0 drubbing of Maribyrnong Swifts.
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