Grovedale record shock win over Newtown & Chillwell as Eagles’ finals hopes in serious doubt

A young Grovedale side has stunned the GFNL with an unlikely win, which may have dashed Newtown & Chillwell’s finals hopes.

Grovedale has its second win on the board. Picture: Mark Wilson

Grovedale has pulled off the biggest upset of the Geelong Football Netball League, claiming a seven-point win over Newtown & Chillwell which has put the Eagles’ finals hopes in serious doubt.

In a season where the gap between the bottom-four sides and the rest has been on full display, the Tigers managed to bounce back from a 112-point thumping at the hands of St Joseph’s to record their second win of the season.

Grovedale is now just 0.29 per cent behind North Shore on the ladder in 10th spot, while Newtown & Chillwell (eighth) face an uphill battle to make the top five, now three wins outside away from Colac in fifth.

Grovedale had shown signs of improvement over the last month, getting on the winners list against St Albans and staying within five-goals of top-two side Bell Park, but this was their standout display under first-year coach Jake Spolding.

Trailing by 10 points early in the third term, Grovedale kicked three goals in the third quarter to take the lead but the Eagles snatched it back early in the fourth term.

The Tigers unleashed another double blow, kicking two majors in the space of two minutes and holding on at Burdoo Reserve.

Dangerous forward Mitch Chafer was named as the Tigers’ best with four goals, while Will Ford and returning ex-AFL ruckman Ryan Abbott were also pivotal.

Spolding said the inclusions of former Abbott, Jack Tute and Brady Ferguson helped and lauded their consistent four-quarter effort.

He hopes the win can be a turning point for Grovedale after a disappointing first half of the year, with the Tigers facing North Shore twice – including next week – along with Geelong West and Lara in the run home.

“We’ve certainly discussed that after the game that one win, yep it is a really positive step for us, but we’ve got to turn up with the same commitment to each other during the week at training and next week out at North Shore to make sure it is not a one off game that we play well,” Spolding said.

“That’s our challenge now is to try to build some consistency in our approach and application to the game and I’m sure if we can do that I think we will certainly be in games more in the back half of the season for longer and hopefully we can win more of those games that we are in.”

Spolding said around half of Grovedale’s team on Saturday had less than 20 games of senior experience.

“We had a 17-year-old, three 19-year-olds, four 21-year-olds, in our side so the majority of our side is still young and learning the game,” Spolding said.

“I think the more that we can provide them opportunities to play at the level, the better they’ll be and us as a footy club will hopefully be better down the track. It is a long-term gain we are looking at, hopefully we can win a few more games, that’s our aim in the short-term, but we’ve also got to look long-term at our footy club.”

That 17-year-old was Bailey McDonald, who stepped up with a critical contested mark and goal on the stroke of three-quarter-time in just his second senior game.

“We were rapt for him and then he had the first shot of the last and hit the post, so he has certainly shown he can play at the level and we are looking forward to seeing him develop over the next couple of weeks as well,” Spolding said.

Originally published as Grovedale record shock win over Newtown & Chillwell as Eagles’ finals hopes in serious doubt