By Josh Ward.
It’d been over 600 days since Upper Ferntree Gully had won a game. And having picked up that elusive win last weekend, there was a feeling of relief and elation amongst the entire club
After getting off to a fast start at Knox Gardens Reserve, the Kings fought gallantly in the final three quarters to hold on and win in their second game back in Division Two.
It was the club’s first senior win since July 10th, 2021 at home against Lilydale as well as the first time that both the seniors and reserves side had won on the same day in 1,344 days.
New senior men’s coach Mark Fisher recently said that once the final siren rang out at Knox Gardens Reserve he felt both relieved and elated having gone through majority of the game with injuries as well as having broken the winless drought for the side
“The relief side of it was great because it would’ve been an absolute shame for the boys to not get the win after doing so much right for the day and then obviously absolute elation for everyone,” Fisher said.
“It was like they’d won a final, everyone ran onto the ground! It was great, it was really good to see because that’s their goal, to start winning games of footy, so to get one early is absolutely fantastic.”
Majority of the side that had played in the win had played with the Kings seniors over the past year, with nine having played in the side since 2021. Fisher added that both young and old enjoyed singing the song at the end of the day.
“The song got a pretty hearty rendition in the rooms. I haven’t seen them win a game before but I think it would’ve been as good as it can get…
“We had a few old members and supporters in the room. They got just as much of a buzz out of it as the boys did so across the board it was a very good day.”
Whilst it was a tricky surface to play on at Knox Gardens Reserve, Fisher was pleased with the effort the side put for majority of the game, particularly in the first quarter.
“We’ve put in a lot of work over preseason on the way we want to go about things. To see it come off and kick five goals in the first quarter and hold them to (around) seven or eight inside 50s in the end was very pleasing to see.
“That hopefully gives the boys a look at if we do it and we do it right that’s the results you can get. In the third quarter we fell away from it a little bit and then they readjusted in the last quarter and that was as good a last quarter and effort as you’ll see.”
Travis Strange had another strong performance which was capped off with kicking the eventual game winner in the last quarter.
“It was a tough kick when it’s been raining, he’ll say 65 out but he probably kicked it from 45 on probably the same sort of angle. As soon as it left his boot mate he was off, he knew it was going through.
“That was nice, a bit of reward for his effort for his day to kick the winner. He was strong.”
Whilst Strange looks set for a big season with the Kings Fisher is expecting plenty of improvement amongst the playing group this season.
“When I went to the club I said when we sit and we talk about going forward it’s not gonna be about wins and losses, it’s gonna be about whether you see change. The vibe around the place now is that it (has) changed.
“We still went back to old habits in the third quarter which I don’t like, that’s gonna be hard to break, but this week we got three good quarters out of the four. If we can put four together we’ll compete every week.”
Having been at the club since the end of last season Fisher has so far enjoyed his time and was particularly pleased with the change he had seen in the playing group.
“I can see the change, the growth. They don’t do it 100% of the time and that’s the thing we’ve got to change with a young group.
“But (they) want to try and change and play an exciting brand of footy where they can score goals and defend the ground a little so they can stop goals.”
And having picked up that elusive victory Fisher believes that the side will head into future weeks with a winning mentality unlike over the last two years.
“At the minute they’re going to go in knowing if we do what we’re supposed to do we’re competitive. And that’s the way I coach, I want them to compete because if you stay in a game long enough you always give yourself a chance to win.
“We have a crack this week, it’s ANZAC weekend so there’s all that stuff that goes with it. But in the end it’s an opportunity for us to grab another four points.”
This week will see Upper Ferntree Gully return home to Kings Park and host Templestowe who come off a 32-point victory over Ringwood at Templestowe Reserve.