Tigers’ hunger builds
‘We lacked the hunger and intensity that Torquay had’ OCEAN GROVE’S ELYSE HOWARD
TORQUAY has declared it is “even hungrier than ever” after making a statement with a dominant 36-22 win over Ocean Grove on Saturday.
Torquay has now won its past four games and Tigers assistant coach Sonia Harris credits her team’s tenacity and motivation for the run that has turned their season on its head.
“We are going out on court every week hungry for the win and now, after four (wins) in a row, we are even hungrier than ever,” Harris said.
“We are looking forward to every game.”
The Tigers have been unstoppable since Round 9 and had Madeline Martin, Joanne Warnes and Jessica Standfield to thank for the strong win over the Grubbers.
“Since then we have been focusing on being accountable in attack, knowing our teammates’ strengths and the combinations that work well,” Harris said.
“We’re starting to understand each other and understanding our strengths as a team.”
Specifically, it was Torquay’s defensive pressure that pushed it out in front on Saturday, followed by an accurate goaling circle.
“There was a lot of contesting and the ball speed was slowed down because the attackers needed to be careful with their possession,” Harris said.
“Both teams created turnovers, not only did we create more, but we capitalised on them.”
Ocean Grove’s Elyse Howard highlighted the defensive nature of Saturday’s clash with Torquay.
“It was a very defensive game, lots of pressure over the ball that was followed by intercepts,” Howard said.
“We lacked the hunger and intensity that Torquay had throughout the game.
“We also didn’t adjust when things weren’t working, we needed more depth in our attack end to reward our defenders’ hard work.
“We lacked movement and couldn’t get the ball into our goal circle through Torquay’s defensive pressure.
“We aren’t phased after this loss as the top five teams are beating each other, it’s going to be a tight race to the finals.”