Westmeadows used its bye to reset and get its season back on track.
Sitting 1-2 heading into the bye, Tigers coach Dave Connell was less than impressed with how the side was going in Essendon District Football League division 1.
“It had been really disappointing,” he said.
“Even with our win we weren’t happy with how we played. We played one quarter against Tullamarine and one quarter against Glenroy and arguably only two quarters in our win against Oak Park.
“We trained like normal with the bye, and on Tuesday we got together as a senior group and it was a line in the sand moment.
“It was the most solid training session I’ve seen in my four years at the club.”
The Tigers responded on Saturday, knocking off a previously unbeaten Hillside side.
The Tigers trailed by 19 points at quarter- time, but Connell thought that if it hadn’t been for giving away free kicks and 50 metre penalties, they would have been a lot closer on the scoreboard.
From the second quarter on, the Tigers found their groove, kicking nine goals to two for the quarter to take a 23-point lead into half-time.
The Tigers continued on their way in the second half, winning 16.10 (106)-13.10 (88).
Most pleasing for Connell was the all-round performance from their older players to 15-year-old Ryan Mullen on debut .
Ryan is brother of Robbie, a Tigers’ best and fairest winner and still playing.
“He’ll be a really good player in the future,” Connell said of Ryan. “He laid seven or eight tackles.”
The win leaves the Tigers with a record of two wins and two losses.
Connell said before the season that he would have a better indication of where the Tigers sat after the first four rounds.
“We knew it was going to be tough draw, having three games away in that period against sides which will be looking to play finals,” he said.
“Had we gone 1-3 after the first month after not playing good football, I would have been reassessing where I thought we were.
“If we can play our best football I think we’ll be hard to beat.”
The Tigers will again have a week off, with no EDFL games due to interleague matches.
In other division 1 matches, Tullamarine easily accounted for Hadfield.
The Demons held the Hawks goal less for the first three quarters in the 18.27 (135)-2.1 (13) win.
In premier division, Greenvale made it four wins in a row with a hard-fought victory against Pascoe Vale, while it was another tough day for Craigieburn, which lost to Strathmore.
In division 2, Jacana and Roxburgh Park both had wins.
