Ocean Grove finishes its home and away season with two of the toughest assignments in the Bellarine Football League – first placed Geelong Amateur and second placed Torquay.
Coach Dave Farrell said rather than shy away from the task, the group would embrace it.
“The position we are in, it probably doesn’t make sense for us to look further than who we play a week ahead, but we spoke after the bye about the run home and to play the top three sides in the last three rounds is exciting,” he said.
“We were bold enough to plan for finals in 2025 and have fallen well short. We think we can draw great experience from playing these teams in the lead up to their finals and squeeze every bit of opportunity out of our season still.”
Ocean Grove lost to fourth-placed Drysdale by 45 points on Saturday, but managed 20 scoring shots.
“There were patches of this week’s game that were as good as we have seen all year,” Farrell said.
“Our pressure was fantastic and we generated some really positive ball movement. A large number of injuries and unavailability of players week to week has been a bit unsettling, you can see there isn’t the same familiarity in our side that a team like Drysdale has from playing together.
“The players took a whole heap of responsibility on ground, we set up well off the ball consistently, they were fatigued after losing Nick and Benny in the first quarter, but kept working really hard. To not go into their shells or retreat late was awesome to watch.”
Meanwhile Ocean Grove sent Glenn ‘Funky’ Campbell off as a winner against Newcomb in round 15.
It was Campbell’s 100th and final game for the Grubbers and it was a thriller with the home side getting the win by just four points.
“It was great to get the result against Newcomb we did, a win at home and in Funky’s final game all fit really well,” Farrell said.
TORQUAY reminded everyone that it is a genuine premiership contender with a 49-point win against top side Geelong Amateur. Tynan Smith added another string to the Tigers’ attack with seven goals.
ANGLESEA just needs to keep winning to assure itself of a finals spot and it did just that with a 51-point win against Modewarre. Dale Kerr was best for the Roos while Connor Joseph booted four for the Warriors.
BARWON Heads also needs to keep winning and hope that Anglesea slips up along the way to sneak into fifth place. The Seagulls eventually shrugged off a persistent Newcomb to win by 39 points with skipper Lachie Wilson in fine form.
QUEENSCLIFF holds onto third spot and a double chance by about three percent from Drysdale. The Coutas were only one point ahead at the last break, but a six-goal final term gave them a 32-point triumph with Jayden McHenry kicking seven goals.
