TORQUAY BOUNCES ROOS OUT
TORQUAY coach Dom Gleeson says his side will carry significant momentum into the preliminary final after brushing Anglesea aside yesterday. The Tigers made amends for last week’s disappointing qualifying final performance against Barwon Heads, outclassing a flat Roos outfit at Portarlington’s Ron Evans Oval. “It was a good win,” Gleeson said. “We’ve had some good clashes against Anglesea this year and we’re three from three. “I watched them last week and they were outstanding and there was genuine concern coming into the game that they would have that wet sail, so it was a really good result for us.” The Tigers had limited opportunities in the first term, with a wayward Anglesea keeping them in the contest. The ’ Seas inaccuracy would prove costly, with Torquay edging to a 10-point halftime lead, despite having the same amount of scoring shots. “I thought that hurt them,” Gleeson said of Anglesea’s goalkicking woes. “Momentum is hard to get in finals and they were under pressure. They missed some opportunities and we were still in front at quarter-time.
“What happened was we got some outside control and kicked a couple of goals and got the momentum. But you never feel comfortable. Going into the last quarter I still feel like we didn’t have it sealed, because they do have the ability to score fast, but we just won more 50-50s than them.
“Disappointingly we butchered the footy a bit, as did they, so it wasn’t a great spectacle to watch but we won the crucial contests and that won us the game.”
Torquay now boasts a psychological advantage, hosting Ammos at McCartney Oval, Spring Creek Reserve.
“The benefit we get is we play at home in a prelim,” Gleeson said.
“We’ve been building for this. We’ve been trying to get off the ground on Tuesday and Thursday night and we’ve been putting the covers on every second night to make sure it’s adequate for a finals series and now we get to play a wounded Ammos at home.
“They are a side that moves the ball well, they’ve got this carefree nature with the way they move the footy. I said in Round 1 to (Kane) Tenace that they’ll be a better side later in the season and they certainly were in Round 12 when we played them.
“I’m looking forward to a hard-fought game again.”