Tigers welcome back crowds at home

As many as 3,500 people attended the Good Friday season opener at McCartney Oval. Photo: PETER MARSHALL

FOOTY has made a triumphant return to Spring Creek Reserve, with thousands of people gathering to cheer on Torquay and Ocean Grove in the 2021 BFL season opener.

The Tigers turned it on for their home crowd on Good Friday, with the seniors, reserves and under 19s all winning.

“It was a good day, we had excellent weather – we couldn’t have asked for a better day, really,” Torquay president Jenny Wood said.

“It was just a good vibe. It probably helped that we did win all three games on the day, but it was a really good vibe around the ground.

“Everyone was happy and pleased to be back.

“We estimate a crowd of between 3,000 to 3,500, which is about what we expected – it would have been nice to get a bit more, but it would have put extra pressure on queues and the spacing because it was pretty full; there’s certainly not many more we could have fit in.”

She said the club had worked hard to introduce COVIDSafe measures for spectators and their efforts paid off.

“It was quite efficient because we brought in EFTPOS payments at the canteen, the can booth and at the gate, which just sped up the queues.

“Particularly at things like the canteen, we quite often have very long queues and a mass of people, but this just kept the flow going fairly quickly.

“Getting people through the gate quicker was really worthwhile.

“And people were doing the right thing. Getting people out on the ground at quarter time and half time is great, but people were really aware not to get too close to the players.”

In the seniors, the Tigers had 10 scoring shots to one in the first quarter against the Grubbers, turning a 34-point lead at quarter time into a 64-point victory; while Torquay’s reserves won in even more dominant fashion, 110-31.

Ms Wood said coming games at McCartney Oval expected to draw decent crowds included the Round 3 match against Drysdale, which will see the Tigers’ senior women’s side playing after the men; and the heritage game against Modewarre in Round 5, which will also include a sponsors’ day and past players’ day.