Geelong Advertiser |
THE BFL has another genuine premiership contender with Torquay flexing its muscle on the big stage, recording a 68-point victory over last year’s runner-up Drysdale.
The Tigers set up the victory with a dominant seven-goal to two second quarter, skipping out to a 41-point lead early in the third term and never looking back.
Coach Craig McCaughan said his side was due for a win over quality opposition having lost to Geelong Amateur, Ocean Grove and Queenscliff this year.
“The pressure was on us a bit, internally and externally,” McCaughan said.
“We lost those three big games and hadn’t beaten anyone above us yet.
“So to come away with the four points … a win’s a win, the scoreboard (margin) is important of course, but it’s irrelevant when we just needed to win today.”
The win was a proper team effort from a side that has been dogged by inconsistency all year. Torquay’s best is as good as any side in the competition — especially when it builds momentum — but the Tigers are extremely vulnerable when certain players go missing.
It seemed the latter was on the cards when Drysdale opened the match kicking the first three goals, but it was perhaps the kick up the backside that Torquay needed.
The ball was rarely in the Hawks’ forward 50 during the second quarter, with Torquay adding seven goals to coast out to a 34-point lead at half time, with an amazing 14 more scoring shots.
By day’s end, with the margin past 10 goals, the Tigers had three players with four or more majors, a testament to their new-found versatility in the post-Scott Hughes era.
Key position forwards Ty Zantuck and Isaac Baker kicked five and four goals respectively, while small forward Matt Johnston had a cameo performance with a bag of five, including at least one goal in each quarter.
“Across the board I don’t think we had a player down,” McCaughan said.
“All 22 players stepped up, which is what we need. We haven’t got any superstars as such. I know we’ve got Ty (Zantuck) and Bakes (Isaac Baker) and those sort of guys, but we don’t rely on just those guys kicking goals all the time.
“We just need to grind out wins like that and it was a good win.”
Two players were yellow carded by the match officials for a scuffle late in the second quarter, with Drysdale captain Reece Holwell and Torquay utility Bryce Marshall sent to the sidelines.
The niggling agro followed on from a fiery mini-melee in the first quarter, which could be looked at by the AFL Barwon match review panel.
McCaughan praised Torquay’s reserves side — who sit on top of the ladder, undefeated with a percentage of nearly 550 — for their success and how it can often flow on to the senior side.
“The players they’ve got in there have played a lot of senior footy as well. You’ve probably got 10 guys you can automatically bring up and have no question mark on,” McCaughan said.
