The Seagulls have endured a torrid opening fortnight with losses to MCC and Essendon, but coach Darren Duff saw light at the end of the tunnel with his side claiming their first points of the season.

"The biggest thing for us this week was to consolidate our team plan and make sure our structure was right and we certainly did a lot to improve on that," he said.

"It's about the connectivities within the team. It's taken us a couple of weeks to get on our game and get that right. It's the key to us being competitive this year."

Duff admitted his side's loss to Essendon a week earlier had been a wake-up call.

They were expected to easily account for the newly promoted team.

"I could see the fire in the eyes this weekend," Duff said.

"They let themselves down a bit last week and this was a bit more a redemptive week."

The Seagulls had to delve deep into their arsenal to claim a share of the spoils against Camberwell.

They had a one-goal deficit at half-time and any thoughts of a quick equaliser were doused by an early Camberwell goal in the second half.

The Seagulls finished the stronger of the two sides, cutting the deficit with a penalty corner goal from the stick of Michael Gallo and levelling the game with a scrappy Jacob McVean strike from a goal-mouth scramble. The Seagulls host Hawthorn at the State Hockey Centre on Saturday at 5pm.

Meanwhile, Footscray was held scoreless by Mentone to remain outside the top-four in the men's state league 2. Bulldogs coach David Audesho sent a warning to Geelong, the fourth round visitors to McIvor Reserve in Yarraville on Saturday. "I'm not disappointed ... the way we're playing, I can see the flood gates are going to open; the goals will come."

■ In the women's section, Altona produced an avalanche of goals to crush Yarra Valley 6-2 and remain the team to beat in state league 2.