Ocean Grove held on for a thrilling one-goal win against fierce rivals Barwon Heads in round 13 on Saturday July 8.
The win kept Ocean Grove in second spot on the ladder while the loss saw Barwon Heads slip out of the top five, albeit only by a small amount of percentage.
The Grubbers jumped out to a seven-goal lead at quarter time and increased that by one at the half.
The Seagulls then launched a serious comeback with a 13 goal to eight third term to cut the deficit back to three, but Ocean Grove held on in the dying stages to run out 45 to 44 winners.
“I think we just lost our way a little bit in the second half, we just weren’t playing our game,” co-coach Candice Parker said.
“We probably got sucked in a little bit to their style of game that they were playing and that ultimately cost us errors during the game.
“While we did have plenty of turnovers, we just weren’t converting off those turnovers either.”
Captain Emily Moroney was best at wing attack while Gemma Bell relished her promotion to A Grade with a fine game in defence. Goal attack Ashton O’Brien was also a standout player.
“She’s (Bell) been playing really well in B Grade so we’ve given her a couple of opportunities to come up and help out in A and she did a really good job and started a bit of drive coming out of defence,” Parker said.
The Grubbers have been slow starters this season before eventually overpowering most opponents in the second half, but last Saturday was the opposite.
“We’ve been trying some combinations so while it might look like we’re not having great starts, that just might be the combinations we’re putting out there and making sure everyone gets experience on the court within the starting line up,” Parker said.
“But then also coming off the bench and starting too, so just trying to get experience into people and seeing how they respond.
“We’re a pretty versatile team so just trying to work out the best combinations is tricky as well.”
Ocean Grove faces a tough run home before the finals starting with Torquay (3rd) tomorrow, then Geelong Amateur (1st), Modewarre (10th), Anglesea (5th) and Queenscliff (4th).
“You’re going to have to play these teams in the finals so to be playing them in the lead up, if you’re not winning you can then go back to the drawing board and go well do we need to do to improve to make sure we beat them in the finals,” Parker said.
ROUND 13
A Grade: Ocean Grove 45 def Barwon Heads 44. Best: Emily Moroney, Ashton O’Brien, Gemma Bell.
B Grade: Ocean Grove 52 def Barwon Heads 27. Best: Amelia Cunningham, Shelby Hackett, Dannie Hoiles.
C Grade: Ocean Grove 30 def Barwon Heads 16. Best: Emily Quinten, Heidi Bennett, Matilda Kelly.
D Grade: Ocean Grove 24 def Barwon Heads 18. Best: Danielle Baker, Paula Birch, Terri-Anne Finch.
E Grade: Ocean Grove 18 def by Barwon Heads 21. Best: Anabelle Sargeant, Taylah Jeffrey, Kylie Collett.
19 & Under: Ocean Grove 19 def by Barwon Heads 21. Best: Lily Hallam, Lexie Annand, Milla Bell.
17 & Under Division 1: Ocean Grove 33 def Barwon Heads 29. Best: Emily Quinten, Tilly Peace-Teague, Lucy Sampson.
17 & Under Division 2: Ocean Grove 20 def Barwon Heads 14. Best: Amelia Stanic, Alice Molloy, Sienna White.
15 & Under Division 1: Ocean Grove 34 def Barwon Heads 8. Best: Holly Britt, Laura Ahearn.
15 & Under Division 2: Ocean Grove 27 def Barwon Heads 7. Best: Mia Ryan, Lucy Neaves, Charlotte Heenan.
13 & Under Division 1: Ocean Grove 16 def Barwon Heads 14. Best: Amber Pallero, Ruby Cook, Tamika Wall.
13 & Under Division 2: Ocean Grove 24 def Barwon Heads 11. Best: Grace Tolley, Emma Robinson, Olivia Clark.
