Wanderers win with wind in their sails

“I think we’re one of the few footy teams in town that enjoyed the wind on the weekend,” he said.

“As I’ve been telling you all year, we’ve shown glimpses.

“This was the first time we’ve put into practice what we’ve been working on, and it was good to get the result.”

Plant said the Wanderers were on target with their passing.

“We took no shortcuts in the wind. As soon as it left the boot, the wind would take it.

“With our passes, we ensured it went where we wanted it to go.

“Short, sharp passes were key, and no long through balls.

We did well driving up the field.”

Deni’s four goals came off the boots of Will King, Mbongiseni Magutshwa, and Ano and Bruce Maunganidze.

“We had a good mix of goalscorers - strikers, midfielders and defenders.

“It was good to spread it around because we don’t have a real focal point.

“Even with the wind, we could’ve had more.

“Ano received a pass from his father, Bruce, and had a shot on goal that missed by inches.

“If he’d scored that, it would’ve been the highlight of the day.”

The win was also significant for the team, not allowing any goals for the first time this season.

“The biggest thing was the first clean sheet of the year.

“I think the players get as much out of that as scoring goals.

“It was easy to get blown out of position with the wind, but we maintained our structure defensively and formation really well.

“We’ve been a bit leaky at the back across the season, but we were very focused in the wind.”

In picking individual players and moments from the match, Plant said every player played well.

But he did acknowledge Ano Maunganidze for his first goal as a Deni Wanderer.

In round 12 this Sunday, the Wanderers take on the Echuca-Moama Border Raiders in Moama.

Plant said their opposition is different this season.

“It’s a catch-up game this week and they’re a bit of an unknown.

“We’ve played a lot against and with them over the years but it seems there has been a bit of change.

“If they win over us, they’ll be competing for the top four. It is up to us to get the upset.”

Regardless of the opposition, Plant hopes his team can bring the level of performance they showed last week in the wind.

“We need to get the confidence and build from last week.

“They (the Raiders) are an unknown quantity, but one of the challenges is being consistent from last week.

“If not, I might need to go and get some wind fans because the wind helped focus us.”