Tara Murray
Darley has ticked a lot of boxes in the first block of the Ballarat Football League season.
The Devils on Saturday won their third match of the year, beating the Sunbury Lions in a thriller.
The Lions led at each of the breaks, with eight points being the biggest margin.
The Devils kicked four goals in the final quarter to come from behind to get the 10.12 (72)-9.14 (68) win.
Devils president Mark Shelly said it was an interesting match.
“It was a fairly low scoring game in the early part,” he said.
‘“We missed a few opportunities early on the scoreboard. It was a pretty hard fought win in the end.”
Mace Cousins and Nick Rodda kicked two goals each for the Devils.
Shelly said skipper Brett Bewley continued his hot form, again finding plenty of the ball.
Dylan Landt, in his first game for the Devils due to Victorian Football League commitments, was another standout against his former team.
Mitch Ward and Ayden Tanner also had good games.
Shelly said one of the most impressive things about the win was getting the points while missing a couple of key members of their backline.
Matthew Brett is set to miss eight to 10 weeks with a knee injury, while Darren Leonard has a couple of issues injury wise.
The win has the Devils sitting in fifth position. It’s a long way from last season when they didn’t win a match.
Shelley said there were some good signs so far.
“We’re fairly comfortable after the first five rounds with a number of wins on the board which is good.
“Round one we took the points against Sebastopol and it was a good kick start to the year. As [coach] Dan [Jordan] has alluded to, it’s a journey and there has been good buy in from the playing group.
“There’s still plenty of improvement within the group going forward. “Things are looking really positive, but footy is a funny thing and it can change quickly.”
Off field, plenty of work is still happening on the renovations of the club rooms. He said they were running a little bit behind what was predicted, but the side would still play all their home matches at Darly Park.
Shelly said there was a really positive vibe around the club and the connection between the junior and senior clubs was as strong as it had been for a long time.
In other results, Melton remains undefeated after beating Ballarat, 18.16 (124)-3.11 (29).
The Bloods step the tone in the first quarter, kicking 7.8 to one point to take control of the match.
Ryan Carter kicked four goals and Braedan Kight kicked three. Liam Carter was named their best.
Bacchus Marsh had a much closer match, beating Redan 9.13 (67)-8.9 (57)
The Cobras led all day and were able to hold off the Lions as they came hard in the final quarter.
Harrison King was the Cobras best.
In good news for the Cobras, Tom German has committed to coaching the club until the end of 2023.
