Seagulls soar, but sore, after Battle
BARWON Heads co-captain-coach Mitch Herbison has lauded his side’s ability to withstand a fast-finishing Ocean Grove after being ravaged by injury.
The Seagulls claimed a 21-point victory in the Battle of the Bridge clash, but found themselves down to just one man on the bench in the last quarter with a trio of key players sustaining serious injuries as the Grubbers threatened to steal a comefrom-behind win.
“We were very pleased with the win,” Herbison said post-match.
“We had a couple of injuries throughout the day which left not many players on the bench and just meant that we really had to fight and scrap.”
The performance of the side’s back six earned particular praise from Herbison after key defender Dylan Holland went down with a fractured jaw, while halfback flanker Tim Wight suffered a serious ankle injury as the Grubbers kicked 2.4 to the Seagulls’ two behinds in the final quarter.
“Our back six really held up strong, especially when Ocean Grove were kicking with the breeze and we were down to one rotation on the bench,” Herbison said.
“Tim Wight hurt his ankle in a marking contest, at this stage he has been into hospital to get some scans but he’s still just waiting on some confirmation of those results.
“Dylan Holland’s the other one who had a fractured jaw in a marking contest as well, so he looks like he’ll spend a bit of time on the sidelines.”
Herbison himself was the other Seagull to sit out the match due to a head knock, but expects to be fit to take on Geelong Amateur this weekend, while the cocaptain-coach was also pleased with the performance of sharpshooter Mitchell Phelps who took his season tally to 18 goals after a bag of four at Howard Harmer Oval.
“He’s had a great start to the year and he was great again yesterday not only with his ability to kick goals but his forward pressure as well and bringing other guys into the game,” Herbison said
Now a game clear on top of the ladder after an unbeaten first three rounds, the Seagulls will concentrate on putting
together a full four-quarter performance as they face last year’s runners-up.
“We played some good footy but we also had a couple of lapses, so that’ll be a big focus for us next week,” Herbison said.