History beckons Ammos

Torquay learns lessons

INJURED Torquay midfielder Ben Raidme is adamant the Tigers’ confidence has not been dinted by the semi-final loss to Geelong Amateur.

Raidme, who suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the year, described the 22-point loss as a “learning experience” and admitted the match was difficult to watch.

The ladder-topping Tigers, who at times appeared rushed and turned the ball over too often against the slick Ammos outfit, will now have to fight for their grand final fate in Saturday’s preliminary final.

“It was frustrating to watch from the sidelines,” Raidme said. “We were absolutely looking for a win today, it would have obviously been a great confidence booster.

“We can certainly take a lot out of today’s game, they (Geelong Amateur) played really well.

“They were against the wind in the second and fourth quarter and they played it well so, we need to learn from that.

“Whether we were bombing it out or Ammos were getting numbers behind the ball and playing smart, we will have to look into that.

“It would have been very nice if we had have, I guess, chipped it around and utilised our free men a bit more.”

Helping Torquay’s cause in the preliminary final will be the returns of ruckman Josh Hovey and midfielder Jesse Dawson, who both served onematch suspensions.

“There is going to be some tough selection issues for some players that do have to make way,” Raidme said.

“We will see how the boys pull up tomorrow and see who wins tomorrow as it will affect line-ups for next week.”

Scott Hughes bagged four goals to continue his consistent season, while Paul McMahon and Joel Fitzpatrick were both tireless in the losing cause. Preliminary Final Modewarre v Torquay (Saturday, Mortimer Oval, 2.20pm) YOU can’t blame Geelong Amateur for feeling excited.

Once again, Ammos have timed their run to perfection and, once again, Ammos have flexed their physical muscle against Torquay in a final to book a grand final berth.

They now have a chance to etch themselves into BFL immortality.

Saturday’s 12.5 (77) to 7.13 (55) win over the Tigers in the second semi-final was built on the back of a ruthless first quarter with the aid of a slight breeze, opening up a 26-point margin which set the tone for the match.

Geelong Amateur can now join the mighty Ocean Grove sides of the late 1990s and early 2000s as the only BFL clubs to win four consecutive grand finals.

“We just go through the same processes as we do every week, we try and keep things pretty similar (when preparing),” co-coach Rowan McSparron said.

“The boys know what’s expected of them and what’s required and hopefully we can have a good week on the track and lay it up the following week and have a good grand final.

“We’ve got another opportunity. It’s just like what I’ve said to the boys the whole finals series; if we keep winning, we just

keep giving ourselp selves an opportunity.

“We’re excited by it and the boys are pretty excited, whichw is understandund able. WeW just hope that we can put in a good performanceperform and do the club proud.”

Forced to come from behind after being jumped by Barwon Heads in the qualifying final last week, Ammos were not going to make the same mistake again.

They were clinical in the first quarter, then held their nerve as the Tigers fought back into the contest in the second quarter, only to kick clear again in a match-defining third quarter.

“The intensity was better at the start of the game, we got the ball going our way at times, which we just didn’t do for the whole first half last week, and we were able to put a little bit of scoreboard pressure on early, which was pleasing,” McSparron said.

“Torquay had two of their better players out in (Josh) Hovey and (Jesse) Dawson.

“We understand that it probably wrecks their structures a little bit, especially in the ruck division, so we were just lucky enough to come out in front.

“We just know when Torquay get their free run at the ball they’re going to be hard to stop, just like Barwon Heads, so we were just able to nullify the stoppages a little bit and get the ball going our way.’’

While kicking only three goals, the presence of Mitch Day in attack proved to be one of the deciding factors of the match, providing a contest in the air to bring Ammos’ smaller types into play at the foot of the contest, with Josh Westwood also booting three goals.

Ross Fagan and Richie Kangars were again impressive, and have proved to be Geelong Amateur’s most important finals players after their key roles in the comeback win over Barwon Heads last week.

“To spread the goal kickers is what we look to do and I thought Mitch Day’s game was fantastic,” McSparron said. “He kicked three himself and not only that, he brought the ball to ground for the little blokes as well.”

McSparron said his side relished the opportunity to play at Spring Creek Reserve, highlighted by knocking off the Tigers twice at the venue in the 2015 finals series.

“We actually don’t mind playing at Torquay to be perfectly honest,” he said.

“We’ve come here and had a pretty good track record over the years, so we are happy to play here.

“It doesn’t worry us where we play as long as we are putting our best foot forward.”