Essendon Mazda Coach’s Comment: Ferrante wants new defensive benchmark
Essendon Royals Interim Senior Men’s Coach Mick Ferrante was pleased to have the chance to get back to winning games midweek.
Following a tough 2-1 loss to Caroline Springs George Cross in the league, the Royals got back to winning ways with an impressive 2-0 win over Moreland Zebras in the Australia Cup, putting the boys back in a happy place ahead of Saturday’s league game against Yarraville Glory.
“It was a big win, especially in terms of the loss on Saturday,” Ferrante said.
“It’s allowed us to recoup and get back on track. I was really pleased with the effort and intensity and for me it was a deserved win.”
Ferrante said the Cup game and performance was an important one in the wider context of the season.
“I’ve been telling the boys for weeks that this run of games would provide a good chance to build momentum,” he said.
“Coming off the loss, it was a great opportunity to be able to get a win after just a couple of days and not have to dwell on it for too long.”
The win was earned thanks in part to a wonder strike from midfielder Ryan McEvoy, whose stunning strike has been doing the rounds on social media.
“I think he might have outdone Graham [Kelly]’s goal against Sydneham last year,” Ferrante said when asked to rank McEvoy’s effort against other great goals at Cross Keys Reserve.
“It was a fantastic goal and I’m rapt for Ryan. He’s a quality player and quality person and we know he’s got that ability so to see him bring it to the fore in a big game like that was obviously great.”
Wonder goals aside, it was the defensive performance that most pleased Ferrante.
A much-needed clean sheet will do wonders for the confidence of a backline that has conceded four goals in two games in the league this season.
The Zebras were restricted to two shots on target of any real danger to German Schacht’s goal – both of which came from outside the box.
“I felt like it finally clicked,” he said.
“But I’m not getting ahead of myself. It’s just one game, and we can’t go around saying how good we are defensively now. It’s a work in progress, but out of the three games we’ve played, that was our best defensive display.
“I’m proud of the boys for buying into what we’re working towards, but we need to make that our benchmark defensively.”
With a number of players dealing with illness and general soreness from the intense run of games, Ferrante said he had a number of selection dilemmas on the table this week, but was confident in the depth of the squad at his disposal.
