Ocean Grove ran into a powerhouse Torquay unit to go down by 71 points in the opening round of Bellarine Football League on Saturday April 1 at McCartney Oval, Torquay.
Despite the magnitude of the loss, Ocean Grove coach Dave Farrell said important lessons were learned and there was never any contemplation about stacking the defence to limit the final margin.
Ocean Grove had just two scoring shots in the second half as the Tigers ran out comfortable winners, 16.15(111) to 6.4(40).
After a solid first half that resulted in Torquay taking a 19-point lead into the rooms, Farrell said the Grubbers had to take the game on in order to win it.
“Our stoppage differential and first possession from the stoppage was really positive but they were able to score from turnovers in their back half due to decision making and skill errors going forward,” he said.
“We felt at half time we needed to make some adjustments to test them and try to win the game.
“While the scoreboard would suggest we got it wrong, I don’t think so. This group is hungry to win matches, not mitigate the size of a loss by packing numbers in at the contest or playing numbers behind the ball.”
It was Farrell’s first game in charge of the Grubbers and he said playing a strong Torquay side in the season opener gave his side the opportunity to learn more about itself.
“Definitely a good thing, while I’m sure we can play far better than we did on the weekend and each week we will become a little tougher to play against,” he said.
“We learnt loads more from that than any practice match or training scenario you can create.”
Midfielder Cameron Fowler was Ocean Grove’s best after crossing from Newtown & Chilwell, while ruckman Ed Dayman battled hard and forward Jayden McHenry showed promising signs.
“‘You win or you learn’ is an old saying that I have always found to be consistent with the way coaches and players analyse their losses,” Farrell said.
“To get a lesson like that round one will no doubt kick things up a gear in the way we review our games, train and prepare to play.”
Farrell said his young side was “at polar opposites in periods” during the twilight fixture, which started at 5.10pm.
“The time Torquay have had together and the consistency of messaging from their coaches allows them to predict each other’s movement and decision making,” he said.
“That’s an area we are looking to fast track and hopefully some of the basic skill execution errors we saw are minimised once we can.”
It’s a quick turnaround for Ocean Grove with a round two Good Friday fixture at home against Newcomb, which struggled to put away a vastly improved Portarlington.
“It’s an exciting prospect for the club and while we would have liked to be both going into the game with a win and some momentum, I know the players are looking forward to putting their best foot forward in front of a huge home crowd and their parents and partners that have been invited along to a pregame function,” Farrell said.
In the reserves, it was a remarkably similar scoreline with Torquay prevailing 17.9(111) to 7.7(49).
Callum Dickinson, Tyson Ruck and Bryce Dunell all pushed their causes for a senior game with standout performances.
