MELTON South now enjoys derby bragging rights as well as its first win of the season, after a 62-point victory over crosstown rival Melton.
The Panthers kicked away from the inexperienced Metricon Bloods at Melton Recreation Reserve on Saturday night, defeating their neighbours 17.14 (116) to 8.6 (54).
While Melton led at the first change by eight points, it was really a reflection of poor kicking from Melton South, as the quarter-time score of 1.7 showed.
Melton South turned up the heat in the second term, with the Panthers’ midfield dominating at the clearances
Melton had only one scoring opportunity in the second term as Melton South ground out a 14-point lead at half-time.
The Panthers then kicked away with Matthew Sutton finishing with seven for the match.
“We won the contested footy around the ground,” Melton South coach Shane Geddes said. “They came at us again in the last quarter but we knuckled down and won the ball out of the middle. We did what we need to do.”
Geddes praised 16-year-old Joey Callus’s ability to put pressure on opponents with his leg speed.
The Melton South backline made it particularly tough on the Bloods.
“Our back six really did their jobs,” Geddes said. “There are a few things we will continue to work on but by and large the back six boys really did their job, and were able to nullify our opponents and run the footy out.”
Melton’s coach Bob Heaney described his team’s performance as “ordinary”.
“There were too many passengers,” he said. “We need 22 blokes to do their roles and tonight it just didn’t happen for us.”
– Katie Henderson, Ballarat Courier
