AMMOS DELIGHT IN POST-SIREN DRAMA
GEELONG Amateur coach Kane Tenace has declared his team has the confidence to compete with the best following an after-the-siren Mitch Day goal that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Day showed nerves of steel at Howard Harmer Oval, kicking truly from 40m, seconds after the siren sounded in his approach to goal.
“It was pretty exciting, they got around Mitch,” Tenace said of the two-point win.
“I had the heart rate up fairly high by the end of it. I was standing next to our bench and I was pacing up and down for the last 10 minutes.
“They had a fair bit of the play for most of the last quarter and I was pacing for most of it.
“The siren went and I don’t know how many people heard it on the ground, actually. The umpires certainly didn’t hear it.
“The siren went as Mitch was running in to kick the goal. I don’t know if he heard it and I know a few of our boys didn’t.
“We definitely heard it from the bench and the umpires went to take it back to the centre bounce, so they had to blow the siren again.”
Down by four points with 10 seconds to go, Day marked and converted, not even breaking stride as the siren rang just before he struck a perfectly executed drop punt amid a buzzing atmosphere.
“It was just one of those days for us,” Tenace said.
“Barwon Heads are the benchmark of the competition and it was great for our group to have a win like that early in the year. I hope it sets us up so we can improve and get what we need out of the season.”
Investing in youth, he said the victory over last year’s grand finalist gave his side belief it could challenge the frontrunners.
“With such a young group, and most of our side is full of 18 to 23-year-olds, a win like that gives the guys confidence that if they stick to the game play and they stick to the things that we’ve been training on over the summer, we can be competitive against the better sides,” Tenace said.
“Being at Round 3, it’s hard to take to much out of it, but as long as the guys continue to build confidence, we feel we’re on the right track.
“A few of the guys are doing things they weren’t doing a few weeks ago, just because they’ve got a little bit more experience and they’ve gained more confidence.
“It shows as a club that we’re on the right track with the young players we’ve got and it gives them the confidence that when we’re at our best we can stick with the best sides.”
While youthful, Ammos still have a stack of experienced players who will fasttrack the side’s development.
“It helps having Dan Lovick, Brad King, Mitch Day and Jarrod Young, who lead from the front,” Tenace said.
“And ‘ Lovie’ was brilliant. He set the standard for our backs. These guys are very good footballers but they get a great thrill out of helping the young blokes.
“Having those sort of people, it makes my job so much easier on match days and at training.”