Coutas still in finals hunt despite going down to Grubbers
QUEENSCLIFF coach Steve Clark says his side is “100 per cent in that mix” to contend for a top-five spot, despite going down to Ocean Grove by 14 points on Saturday.
Clark was left to lament an inefficient second quarter with the breeze, in which the Coutas and Grubbers kicked a goal apiece.
Ocean Grove then made them pay in the third, opening up a 17-point buffer at the final change before grinding out the 9.15 (69) to 8.7 (55) win at home.
“There’s a lot of positives in the ways the boys are going about it, but probably the sec- ond quarter, potentially the way we moved the ball forward, might have cost us the game,” Clark said. “I haven’t looked at it exactly yet, but I think we potentially might have only kicked one or two goals with the wind and kicked more into it.
“I thought our first quarter was terrific, the way we went about it.
“The third quarter we probably kept in touch — it was only a 17-point margin with maybe a five-goal wind (in the last quarter), but it was quite wet and Ocean Grove did well to bottle it up.”
Jake Carmody kicked three for the Grubbers, with Justin Carey named best for the home side.
Two ankle injuries, to Justin Maher in the first quarter and Caleb Whitley in the third, compounded Queenscliff’s woes and added to the ankle injury of Ben Carmichael at training on Thursday night.
But despite the loss, the Coutas are 4-3 with big games against Geelong Amateur and Torquay before the midway point.
Clark said his side deserves to be spoken about in top-five conversations.
“We’re 100 per cent in that mix,” he said. “We’re seven games down now, so just over a third of the way through, and
outside of being convincingly beaten by Barwon Heads and the Round 1 (loss), we were terrible in Round 1 ... I reckon they’ve been terrific.
“We’re good enough to win those (next two) games well and truly. I don’t think we’d be pinching any thing, we’ll win them on our own merit.
“We’re 4-3, so we’re ahead of the ledger as it is, so we just want to make sure we stay ahead of the ledger. If we do that, we’ll more than likely extend our season.”
STREAK CONTINUES
BARWON Heads stretched its unbeaten streak to seven wins with a clinical 58-point victory over Drysdale, 16.11 (107) to 8.1 (49). The Hawks were right in the contest early, kicking four goals to six in the first 30 minutes before the Seagulls flexed their collective muscle with 10 of the next 14 majors. Mitch Phelps extended his league goalkicking tally to 34 with five goals.
ANGLESEA BLITZ
A NINE-goals-to-one opening stanza helped Anglesea inflict maximum damage against Newcomb on Saturday. The Power didn’t stand a chance after quarter-time, despite winning the second term with four goals to two. The Roos hit back with four unanswered in the third term, before the two sides snared three goals apiece in the 65-point win to Anglesea, 18.19 (127) to 8.14 (62). Jordan Erskine booted another five to take his season tally to 25.
TIGERS BOUNCE BACK
TORQUAY responded from its horrible loss to Barwon Heads, accounting for Portarlington by 47 points. The Tigers boasted a comfortable 32-point lead at half-time and a victory never looked in threat. Billy Henderson bagged six in the 14.17 (101) to 7.12 (54) rout and Jesse Dawson was a standout performer. It sees the reigning premier draw level with Modewarre at 3-4 from seven rounds, with both teams sitting outside the top five.