Ocean Grove ended a disappointing season with a loss to Geelong Amateur, which saw it finish in ninth place on the ladder.
The 57-point loss saw the Grubbers finish only ahead of the winless Portarlington although outgoing coach Pete Davey the future was ”extremely bright”.
“Over the past 30 home and away games, we have debuted 26 young players which is an extraordinary number, 21 of those have come through our junior program,” he said.
“I have said it before but eight losses by less than four goals shows that we weren’t far away. If we can avoid the player turnover from 2021 and have a little more luck with players missing games, the improvement will be sharp.
“That said, patience and understanding of mistakes is required as the side is still very immature from a senior footy perspective. Once these guys start hitting that 40-game mark together, the improvement will be steep but for a number of players, that’s still two years away.”
Ocean Grove wanted to spoil Ammos’ finals chances, but it wouldn’t have mattered had they won. Ammos would have finished fifth regardless with Queenscliff and Anglesea both losing.
“I thought our first quarter into the breeze, from around the eight-minute min mark onwards, was some of our best for the year,” Davey said.
“We moved the ball well and took 36 marks which indicates we had a lot of it. They got numbers back to negate a lot of our forward entries but to go into the break within a goal was really pleasing.
“It was disappointing to fade out after half time but our opposition did play well and held a significant size and experience advantage in the middle of the ground that we weren’t able to compete with well enough for long enough.”
Davey took ownership of an outburst in the second quarter that cost his side a goal and said Ammos moved the ball well.
“I let the side down by showing dissent to a decision that ultimately led to a goal in the second quarter that came at a pivotal moment,” he said.
“It has been a frustrating year and I let that, along with some events leading into the final game, get the better of me which I’m disappointed about.”
“They are a quick transition side from defence to offence and we weren’t able to put a stop on them fast enough on turnovers. They are also quite organised around stoppages and when you combine that with some clearance dominance, it felt like we were chasing tail for most of the final three quarters.”
Davey, who will step down as coach due to work commitments and wanting to spend more time with his young family, said a horrible injury list ultimately brought about his side’s downfall.
“I don’t want to make excuses as we clearly weren’t good enough for long enough periods this season, but we also had a wretched run with injuries in the middle of the ground,” he said.
“Losing (Joe) McDonald, (Jake) Wilkie and (Connor) Pickett for most of the season on top of Kobe Annand, Ollie Monteith and Will Brohm not being at the club in 2022, hurt as that was basically our entire midfield unit from 2021.
“The upside was giving games to young players who now have an understanding of what senior footy is and they will no doubt progress with a senior preseason. Hopefully some experience coming back into the club will result in winning more of those close games that we lost this year.”
ROUND 18
Ocean Grove 3.0(20), 3.3(21), 4.3(27), 5.5(35)
Geelong Amateur 4.2(26), 7.5(47), 9.8(62), 14.8(92)
Goals
Ocean Grove: James Paterson 2, Max Sutton, Kye Annand, Fletcher Long.
Geelong Amateur: Max Hungerford 3, Evan Farley 3, Lachlan Reilly 2, Harry Kershaw, Kristian Bucovaz, Sam Bain, Sam Hosking, Jack Williams, Jacob Edwards.
Best
Ocean Grove: Max Sutton, Josh Horton, James Paterson, Joshua Lange, Glenn Campbell, Fletcher Long.
Geelong Amateur: Evan Farley, Chris Kangars, Lachlan Reilly, Samuel Bain, Max Hungerford, Sam Darley.
