Lancefield has set its standard for the rest of the Riddell District Football League season after breaking through for its first win since 2023.
There was plenty of joy for the Tigers as they beat the Gisborne Giants, 14.15 (99)-9.12 (66) to get their first win since round 17 in 2023.
Coach Ryan O’Meara said he was pretty pleased with the result.
“I was just rapt for the boys,” he said. “I’m super stoked, they have put in a lot of effort and work.
“We’ve been in games where we have been close to wins. We have not found the right momentum or belief.
“It’s nice to get one over the line.”
O’Meara said they knew they would be competitive this season, it was about doing it for four quarters.
He said there had been a few games where they were in games for two or three quarters but not able to get the job done.
O’Meara said in the win against the Giants it was their most consistent game.
“Take out the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes, we were really strong for three and half quarters,” he said.
“We told them to forget the scoreboard at three quarter time. We wanted them to do what they had in the middle two quarters.
“They kept playing the way we wanted. We were great in patches and we have to keep doing that.”
For the Tigers, they are playing the long game.
Their average age this season has been 21 as they’ve fielded a young team each week.
“We’ve got a couple of 17s players and we’ve got seven or eight games into them,” O’Meara said.
“It holds us in good stead for the future. They’re starting to believe and work together really well as a team.”
O’Meara said there were a number of youngsters that were really impressive.
Ben Sankey has provided some good pressure as a young backman, while Jerome Ristevski is a 17-year-old wingman who is getting better each week.
Leroy Ristevski was among the standouts in the win against the Giants, while Tom Jackson and Tom Sayers, who kicked four goals each in the win, are forming a good combination up forward.
O’Meara said while it was a relief to get the win they want to solidify what they have been doing.
“We want to make sure we are ultra competitive,” he said.
“Who says we can’t win another game?” he said. “We want to keep winning games of footy.
“Our best footy is good enough, we need to minimise the gap between our best and worst.”
