Cougars make their mark

By Gavin Staindl
BERWICK’S breakout season came to a close on Saturday and despite going down to Williamstown 7-3 at Greenwich Reserve the Cougars can be proud of their achievements this season.
The similar-look Cougars team that won only seven games last year vastly improved in season 2010/11 winning 14 games and finishing with a record of .583.
The Cougars were in a strong position to make finals and advanced to as high as third midway through February but Division Two’s youngest side burnt out, losing its last four games.
Although Saturday’s match was a dead-rubber, coach Mick Poole wanted his side to exit the season on a high, but it was not to be as Williamstown ran out victors.
Poole admitted earlier last month that he and his side would be “disappointed” to miss finals given his team’s strong positioning but Poole was also aware that his side would go through a rough patch before the season finished.
“We had been on such a high for such a long time, the boys are so young and will come down sooner or later,” Poole said last month.
After losing the opening three games of the year the Cougars rattled off 13 wins from 16 games to become strong contenders for finals action.
But a form slump plagued Berwick’s run home and they lost the remaining four matches to miss out on finals by two games.
However, if you had asked Poole at the start of the year if he would accept a 14-10 season he would have responded with an emphatic yes.
“Our aim is to win more games than we lose,” Poole said at the start of the season.
“We are a very young team, if we can reach a .500 record I would view the year as successful,” he said.
Berwick is obviously disappointed at missing out on finals, but the young Cougars can take solace in knowing they will soon become one of Division Two’s powerhouse clubs.