Confidence runs high in the Valley as Beach streak ends
BARWON Valley believes it has a squad capable of going all the way in Division 1 pennant this year after defeating Thirteenth Beach for the first time in the club’s history.
Barwon Valley claimed a 4-3 win over the seven-time reigning champions at East Geelong in the wind and cold on Sunday, giving it the belief it is a genuine threat to end Thirteenth Beach’s dominance.
Barwon Valley gun Simon Trickey, who won his match 2&1 over Luke Saunders, said there was belief in the group it could “really compete now at the pointy end of the season”.
“It gives a lot of confidence now that they can be beaten,” Trickey said.
“They’re a very strong side, they’ve done extremely well over the last six or seven years.
“It gives us hope and a lot of confidence for the rest of the season going forward and it probably gives some other teams in the division some confidence as well to see that they can be beaten.”
Kevin Henderson (two holes) and Peter Thompson (4&3) also claimed a point, while captain Matt Kennedy and David Foster each halved their matches.
Trickey joined the club in 2014 and said the club had not beaten Thirteenth Beach in that time. “It’s been a long time,” he said. “We’ve been close but that was the first success we’ve had, which was really encouraging.”
Barwon Valley sits at the top of the standings, undefeated from its three matches.
It will next meet Clifton Springs on May 2 and would likely need to win that or the fixture against East Geelong two weeks later to make the final on May 23.
Trickey said the squad had made a commitment to make pennant a priority this year.
“The team’s been similar in previous years, but I suppose the difference is it was harder for a lot of us to play more games due to work commitments,” he said.
“A few of us were probably only available for a handful of games.
“This year, I think a lot of us want to put our hand up for the whole season and really just try and compete all year as a team — try and have the same guys in the side every week.”
In the weekend’s other Division 1 match, The Sands defeated Barwon Heads 4½-2½.