Torquay overcome injury-hit Barwon Heads on the back of young Tigers’ booming boots

The reigning premiers have reminded the competition of their enviable depth against a brave but injury-hit opponent in Round 11 of BFNL football.

Torquay captain James Darke orchestrated two crucial goals after Barwon Heads made a late charge. Picture: Alison Wynd

On the back of the booming right boots of two Torquay young guns, the defending champions have reminded the competition of their enviable depth.

The Tigers have shot to second place on the BFNL ladder after a 42-point defeat of an injury-hit Barwon Heads outfit at Howard Harmer Reserve.

Although it wasn’t like the reigning premiers were at full strength themselves.

Missing 2024 premiership players Max Hurley, Clay Page, Luke Mahony and others, the title holders were undeniably blessed though by the return of Oliver Tate, who was brilliant off half back, rarely wasted a possession and eluded tackles with great finesse.

Torquay’s seventh win of the season comes after the departure of BFNL guns Chase Loftus, Baxter Mensch, Harry McLeod, and Reef Page to opportunities elsewhere while key forward Lucas Anderson is understood to be inching closer to a return from a season-ending ACL last year.

Paddy Hughes was one of Torquay’s best in a 42-point win. Picture: Alison Wynd

However, with less than 35 senior games under their belt collectively coming into this season, Will Montebello and Banjo Dyer brought their combined season’s haul to 45 goals with three apiece.

In fact, Torquay now boasts six players who have kicked goals in the double digits this year, with midfielders Nathan Mifsud and Paddy Hughes drifting forward to score on Saturday, while Tom Diamond bagged four.

Meanwhile, the Seagulls, who went into the game without Damian McMahon for the second Saturday in a row, Sammy Baker and young gun Cooper Ward who was on crutches following a syndesmosis injury, at least kept pace with Torquay until half time.

However, the injury list continued to mount the longer the game went on with Zach Walter (pectoral muscle), Kallum Hinchcliffe (groin), Darcy Griffin (calf), Ryan Harvey (cut head) and Jack Henderson (hamstring tightness) in the wars.

Barwon Heads kept pace with Torquay for the first half. Picture: Alison Wynd

A hobbling Sam Witherden, after being crunched on the wing late in the game, perhaps summed up the state of Barwon Heads’ collective health by the end, as Torquay won 18.13 (121) to 12.7 (79).

Barwon Heads coach Sam Schaller said his Seagulls had been brave, with players “dropping like flies” but ultimately a bad third term cost them, as Torquay’s contest and stoppage work was impressive.

“We had some small bad patches, but we were still within striking distance,” Schaller said.

“We just ran out of cattle unfortunately.

“We could of rolled over, had excuses there if we wanted to take them, but we had a crack.”

Earlier, it was shaping as a BFNL classic with four lead changes by the middle of the second term, with Henderson booting three of his side’s first four, taking his season’s haul to 25.

One of those was a goal of the day contender, an exceptional conversion on the left as Barwon Heads made the most of fewer inside 50s.

Up the other end, Torquay was able to produce a number of inside 50 grabs – Tom Hooper’s pack mark the standout – but lacked the polish to kick 3.6 for the term.

At the first break, Schaller was calling for a reduction in Torquay’s uncontested mark game while instructing his charges to kick to space.

While lacking the execution, he was impressed with his side’s workrate against the BFNL’s best team of the past two seasons.

Barwon Heads’ Zach Walter is tackled by Matt Boag. Picture: Alison Wynd

Barwon Heads appeared to lift its pressure in its forward 50 for a period of time, but with Walter out of the match, the narrative flipped.

From the 12-minute mark of the second term, the home team’s two-point lead was transformed into a 42-point margin in favour of Torquay, enjoying 10 of the next 11 scoring shots.

Hooper would break Torquay’s run of missed set shots with a stunning conversion from the boundary line.

With an 18-point lead at half time, Torquay would put the Seagulls on their heels immediately, with Montebello excelling at ground level too with a clever left foot snap.

But it would be two monumental roosts from Dyer early in the third – engaged in a great duel with Heads captain Kyle Polley – that appeared to knock the stuffing out of the home team.

In Walter’s absence, Torquay began to get total clearance dominance with Hughes, Mifsud, reigning Les Ash medallist Matt Boag and co-captain James Darke racking up influential possessions.

The icing on the cake for a game-changing 7.2 quarter was a terrific running goal from Diamond on the back of a wealth of inside 50s.

At the final break, Schaller was demanding his charges not to roll over and show some ticker for the final 30 minutes.

Back in Round 3, the Tigers had led the Seagulls by 49 points at the final break before putting the foot to the floor.

This time, down by 47, Schaller said he didn’t want to see a repeat with its season delicately placed.

“We’ve got to take the game on,” Schaller said.

“We cannot just roll over here.

“Win it at the source, get a couple of goals, make them nervous.

“I need our leaders to get us going.”

Barwon Heads’ Sam Witherden is tackled by Torquay co-captain Ben McNamara. Picture: Alison Wynd

And they responded in a big way, chiselling the lead back to just 17 points after three goals to Witherden and a brilliant snap from heavy traffic by Finn Cornell.

However, like all champion teams do, the Tigers steadied with perennially busy Darke orchestrating the next two goals for Diamond and Harrison Goode to put the game to bed.

Torquay, who started the game with wasteful kicking, couldn’t miss by the end as Montebello and Dyer converted from long range to answer the home side’s final yelp and then some.

Down back, Kyle Maher battled away all day for Barwon Heads and had his moments of aerial dominance, but the Tigers had too many offensive options.

Remaining in sixth place and a win off fifth after Ocean Grove’s 41-point boilover win against Anglesea, Schaller would keep his troops on the ground well after the final siren for a post-match chat.

The home side faces the real prospect of missing the finals for the second game in a row if it can’t start to string multiple wins together — something they haven’t done since Round 2.

Facing the ladder leaders Geelong Amateur next Saturday at Queens Park Reserve, the challenge will get no easier for the Seagulls.

Originally published as Torquay overcome injury-hit Barwon Heads on the back of young Tigers’ booming boots