GROVE RIGHT AS RAIN
OCEAN Grove coach Elyse Howard says her team’s 40goal win against Anglesea was largely attributable to its capacity to push on in trying conditions.
Having jumped away to a 16-3 lead at quarter-time, the Grubbers controlled the contest in the wet, extending their lead at every break to win 62-22 at Ellimatta Rerserve.
While Howard knows there is scope for improvement as her side zeros in on a top-three tilt, she said it was a timely reminder of how close the competition was.
“It was very patchy, but I felt like we got it together in stages,” Howard said.
“It was hard with the conditions and we dropped some balls and made some uncharacteristic errors, but we were able to put together some really good passages.
“So overall I was pretty happy and it is good to walk away with the four points because that is what we are here for.
“But I said to the girls, ‘Enjoy the break and come back fresh’ … because the next little bit will dictate how the final five finishes.
“We are really aiming to keep that top-three spot and have to make sure we are going into those games fully prepared and ready for business.”
The Grubbers were well served in the circle by Rebecca Scott, who dominated the scoring for the visitors.
While Howard is keen to avoid falling for the trap of becoming too predictable to opposition teams by using her star weapon in attack too often, she said it was pleasing to see more cohesion between the midcourt and goalers.
“Our attack end is probably where we have been exposed against other teams, so we have been working really hard to try to finetune those things and it is starting to come together,” she said.
“We will wait and see how it goes against Ammos and the harder teams, but I feel like we are confident enough in our ability.
“We have speed, we have physical players, so hopefully it will work out.”