A pulsating Battle of the Bridge was played in some of windiest conditions ever seen at Ray Menzies Oval and while the Barwon Heads took the four points back over the river, there was perhaps more to like from the young Ocean Grove side.
With a howling northwesterly blowing pretty much across the oval, players from both sides, understandably, struggled to adapt to the conditions.
Barwon Heads booted two first-term goals and Ocean Grove didn’t even score.
Things were tight in the second quarter until the Seagulls booted a flurry of late goals and took a 22-point lead into the sheds and almost anyone could have been forgiven the result was a foregone conclusion.
Anyone, but Ocean Grove’s players and coaching staff that is.
The Grubbers slammed on six goals to leave the Heads shellshocked and with a boisterous home crowd urging the side on, it looked like an upset was not only possible, but probable.
The Grubbers employed a more direct kicking game and clever use of short handballs to get them out of congestion had Barwon Heads in all sorts of trouble.
The Seagulls’ forward entries were haphazard and Ocean Grove’s defensive intercept marking was a highlight.
Halfway through the final term, Ocean Grove held onto a slender lead, but some Ollie Wiltshire magic saw the brilliant youngster boot two goals and the Seagulls won by 14 points.
In the end, perhaps Barwon Heads just knew how to win and Ocean Grove didn’t.
“No doubt belief and trust in your plan and teammates is one of the intangibles you get mostly from winning games together,” Ocean Grove coach Dave Farrell said.
“Barwon Heads have been doing that for a fair while so I guess that helped in a critical time of the game.
“The trust our players have in our game method and each other continues to grow week in week out and our coaching group draw more from stats, vision and experiences than we do the scoreboard, I guess that’s why coaches often review the losses harder.”
Farrell said the club hadn’t set a win/loss figure at the start of the season, but anyone who has watched his team over the course of the year would have been left in no doubt that the improvement has been obvious.
“This season we didn’t set a win/loss metric for what success looks like, player retention and development of our list have been our focus’ and we’re positioned well with five games to go finish with a pass mark for both,” he said.
In the end it took a bit of Wiltshire brilliance and the difference between the two sides on Saturday wasn’t great.
“Yeah, he’s a super talent and they have a spread of players of that calibre right across the ground so it is hard to keep on top of them all of the time,” Farrell said.
For Ocean Grove, Jye Walker was a constant threat up forward all day.
“He is our playing midfield coach and playing forward of centre the last couple of weeks has given him a different look at how the mids are setting up and leaving the contest,” Farrell said.
“His own form has been great but he’s coached really well too, not many can strike the balance he has.”
The task doesn’t get any easier for the Grubbers this week when they host the undefeated Torquay, but you get the feeling that the group is eagerly awaiting the contest whereas in the past 18 months, perhaps they might have been dreading it.
“Immediately after the game we spoke about it and the mention of being able to test ourselves against another side they have so much respect for, actually put a smile on the boys’ faces,” Farrell said.
“We had some sore bodies given we were down to a couple on the bench after halftime and will have a really light week to get them in the best shape we can.”
ROUND 13
Ocean Grove 0.0(0), 2.4(16), 8.4(52), 9.4(58)
Barwon Heads 2.1(13), 6.2(38), 7.4(46), 11.6(72)
GOALS
Ocean Grove: J. Walker 3, J. Wooding, T. Ruck, E. Dayman, M. Sutton, H. Dolley, T. Chakley.
Barwon Heads: M. Herbison 4, O. Wiltshire 3, C. Ward 2, C. McKinnon, B. Eddy.
BEST
Ocean Grove: J. Walker, M. Sutton, C. Fowler, J. McDonald, E. Dayman, G. Campbell.
Barwon Heads: K. Hinchcliffe, Oliver Wiltshire, Charlie Perks, Tom Swift, Cameron O’Leary, Kyle Maher.
