Grubbers a no-show early, says wry coach
OCEAN Grove coach Paul Lynch has conceded his side simply “didn’t turn up to play” in the opening quarter of Saturday’s Battle of the Bridge against Barwon Heads.
The Grubbers, who went down by 21 points, failed to recover from a six-goalto-one first term that saw the Seagulls take a 31-point lead, with Lynch lamenting his side’s inability to win the ball and apply sufficient pressure to the opposition.
“We were disappointed with the way we started the game,” he said.
“We probably didn’t turn up to play like we have in the practice matches and first two games so that was the disappointing thing probably from the whole day.
“We just had non-existent pressure early, all our indicators were down in our pressure department and we just allowed them too much easy footy.”
Still sitting in the top two, Lynch said he was confident his side would be able to rebound quickly, with their performance in the last three quarters signifying they were not far off the competition’s best.
“I think Barwon Heads would be nearly the benchmark,” the Grubbers coach said.
“So to have such a poor start and only finish a couple goals and a bit behind them, I don’t think we’re that far off it.
“I feel we’ve had a really good five weeks of footy, so hopefully it’s just a one off and we can get back to that same style of footy that we’ve been playing the first month.”
Key forward Jake Carmody played a significant part in ensuring Ocean Grove remained a chance to steal the game late, kicking six of the Grubbers’ eight goals, while captain James Linton’s working around the ball also earned the praise of the coach in his first match of the season.
“Jake’s been really good all year, he’s probably been our best player nearly every week,” Lynch said.
“And Jimmy was, I thought in the first half, best man on the ground and a major reason why we were in striking distance still at halftime, three-quarter time.”