Ammos’ ladder leap

Tough win in thriller propels team to third

GEELONG Amateur coach Tim McGrath lauded his side’s defensive ability after Ammos held on to defeat the Geelong West Giants by seven points in a thrilling contest yesterday.

Ammos dominated most of the play in the opening half, but only held an eight-point lead heading into the main break.

The second half was a scrap, with momentum and goals shifting back and forth, until Amateur was able to lock down defensively and hold on for the 6.4 (40) to 5.3 (33) win thanks to a dominant performance in the ruck from Stephanie Abfalter with help from midfielder Mardi Dangerfield.

The win leapfrogs Ammos over the Giants into third sport on the ladder.

“Their effort and willingness to keep competing was great, they just kept on running to try and outnumber the ball especially when it got out into space,” the former star Cat said post-game.

“To be able to defend like that in the second half, I thought was brilliant.”

But McGrath felt his side did not play near its best football compared to previous weeks, partly due to the Giants being “a really good opposition”.

“The way we set up around the ball, we’ve got a really dominant ruckman (Abfalter) and we probably don’t get enough good use of what she can do,” he said.

McGrath also praised Justine Radford’s crucial shutdown role in the second half on Giants spearhead Cortney Williamson.

Giants coach Steve Toohey conceded his side was beaten in the contested ball and in the midfield, but can see his side’s development each week.

“We know we’ve got to be better around the stoppages, we’ve got to run and spread a lot more, but we’re learning and improving all the time so that’s the positive part about a loss like this,” Toohey said.

“Every player had to lift themselves by 5 per cent (after halftime) because they seemed to be dictating the terms in the first half and I thought we did lift in the third quarter, we just couldn’t put that scoreboard pressure on,” he said.

Sophie O’Dea, Hannah Alessi and defender Claudia Gunjaca stood tall for the Giants.