AMMOS FIND WAY
GEELONG Amateur cocoach Rowan McSparron dubbed it “winning ugly”.
The premiership coach admits his side failed to execute well in the first half before storming back to win a gripping qualifying final over Barwon Heads.
Ammos are now one win away from their fourth consecutive grand final after hitting the front late in the final quarter to win 11.17 (83) to 10.11 (77) at Portarlington.
McSparron was pleased with his side’s ability to find a way to victory in the highpressured game after Ammos eventually wore down the Seagulls by disarming their slick ball movement.
Trailing at every break, Ammos called on their big game experience to kick five goals to one in the final quarter to finally deny a Seagulls side that had managed to control the game for much of the afternoon.
“(Barwon Heads were) were exceptional,” McSparron said. “We knew that was going to be the case, their run and carry is good as any team in the competition.
“We knew they were going to be hard to come up against and it proved that way. We just didn’t execute really well, especially earlier in the game.
“That third quarter we could have hit the front, some of those (opportunities) were really gettable goals within 25 metres, so that’s a little bit disappointing.
“But then to finish the game off the way we did and finish it with run and carry, which is what Barwon Heads are really good at, we were happy with that.”
The athletic Richie Kangars helped pull Ammos back into the contest, while key forward Mitch Day and goal sneak Jarrod Westwood were big threats with seven of their side’s 11 goals between them.
Ammos needed a response after halftime after the Seagulls led 6.8 (44) to 3.4 (22) at the main break. High on the agenda was slowing down the Seagulls’ ball movement.
“We just started winning a bit more of the footy,” he said.
“Instead of letting them have the majority of the say with the ball in their hands, we just started getting it a little back in our favour, which helped stem the margin a little bit. Slowing down Barwon Heads means it’s us getting our hands of the footy.
“We just wanted to make sure we were winning our fair share of the ball, which tended not to happen in the first half. The second half, we tended to have a bit more going our way.
“If we play a game like this and get a win every week, I don’t care.
“It’s not about how pretty it looks at times, it’s just about getting the win and moving forward and progressing into the finals.
“Finals footy isn’t always pretty because the pressure and the intensity of the game picks up a lot. It’s just the teams that handle it for the longest period of time are the ones that usually win. If we ugly every game for the rest of the finals, I’ll take it.”
Torquay and Geelong Amateur will clash this Saturday at Spring Creek Reserve in the second semi-final, with the winner earning direct passage into the grand final.
“Torquay finished on top and go into (this Saturday) as favourites with the week off,” McSparron said.