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DAMIAN Zaparenkov capped off his 100th game in style on Saturday with a goal on the siren to give Geelong Amateur a 56-point win over a valiant Anglesea.
It wasn’t a day for big forwards — or any type of goalkicker for that matter — but his goal at the death was a fitting reward for many years of service at the club.
The goal also stretched the Ammos’ final score to 11.16 (82), probably far greater than what co-coach Andrew Lovick and his team were expecting when they went into the half time break with just four goals.
Amateur struggled to gain any clear advantage in the first half, with the teeming rain, heavy ball and resilient Anglesea defence conspiring to make it a low-scoring match.
“We knew they (Anglesea) were going to serve it up to us nice and early and they probably outplayed us, outcoached us in the first half,” Lovick said after the match.
“The conditions made it a little bit difficult in terms of turnovers and stuff like that, but we fought it out. We knew it was going to be a bit of a grind and we just kept pushing.”
Lovick paid tribute to his defence — in particular captain Marc O’Donohue, Luke Souter and Travis Robertson, who all had great games — for their efforts in restricting the opposition to just one goal after quarter-time.
“I think in the back line we’ve just got some guys that read the footy well, that are disciplined and accountable,” Lovick said.
“(They were) really miserly and just defended everything that went down there.”
Although conditions were poor for the majority of the first half, with rain threatening to return in the second, the Ammos refused to let play become congested and often found men in space.
“We try and get a switch out of the back line, try and open up the play and I think we did that a lot better in the second half as the game went on,” Lovick said.
“When we had guys in front that were presenting up to the contest and giving a contest for our forwards to then crumb, we were a lot more effective in that second half.”
Questions were raised in pre-season as to whether Geelong Amateur as a unit would be able to gel quickly, given its influx of new and returning players.
But a 5-0 undefeated record doesn’t lie and Lovick puts his side’s cohesion down to the new players’ willingness to be a part of the group.
“We have been fortunate to get some recruits in and that is a challenge ... making sure we know everyone’s ability,” Lovick said.
“But all these new recruits have been at nearly every single training so it makes it a lot easier.
“As well, away from the football side of things, the guys are actually getting there and socially enjoying each other’s company, which makes a big difference.”
Amateur faces an in-form Drysdale at the “Hawks Nest” next weekend in what should be a cracking game.
