THERE’S a lethal Leigh at Darley. And after inspiring the Devils to their first win in more than a year, Leigh Sobotnicki was the talk of the Ballarat Football League on Saturday.
Sobotnicki kicked four goals for the night and had a purple patch in the last quarter as Darley broke away from Melton South to win 13.18 (96) to 10.14 (74) at Melton Recreation Reserve.
There was no clear better team for the first three quarters, with Darley taking a two-point lead to the last change. But four goals to one in the final term sealed victory in Rod McPherson’s first game in charge.
Melton South launched its season in the corresponding fixture last year and went on to play finals. But it couldn’t repeat the winning effort this time as its run dried up in the final term.
Jake Edwards goaled in the opening exchanges of the final term to extend Darley’s lead to eight points before Sobotnicki snared a quick double to have the margin at 20 points after just seven minutes.
Sobotnicki was a live-wire in the forward line, taking marks and setting up teammates for scoring opportunities. Had he kicked straight, the Western Jets-listed recruit from Rockbank could have four goals of his own in the final quarter alone.
When Dane Grenfell snapped a 30-metre goal at the 16-minute mark the margin was 26 and Melton South was cut adrift.
The Panthers were left to rue missed opportunities in the first and third quarters, jumping Darley early but kicking 3.4 and 3.7.
Nathan Jackel’s pace was a highlight for the Devils as his run and carry through the middle left Melton South chasing.
Mathew Notman was best for the Panthers, along with Jonathan Doran and Shane Tobin, while forward Mathew Sutton returned five goals.
Darley will play Melton this weekend, while Melton South meets Sunbury Lions at Clarke Oval on Tuesday night.
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From The Coaches
Rod McPherson — Darley
‘‘When you win, players can convince themselves they were major contributors when largely too much was left to too few.
‘‘Some of our young guys stood up [to] that leadership load in terms of spread and voice, putting pressure on each others to really dig in. It really needs to come from within the group.
‘‘We’ve been good in our practice games, but they’ve all been played at home …this is a hostile environment, we understood that, it’s where it all came unravelled last year.
‘‘(Sobotnicki) was a real roll of the dice at selection … we had Chris McGill ping a hammy at training on Thursday night so that left a door open. But we needed a smart forward who could work around Dane (Grenfell) and Marty (Pask), and Leigh just did that role fantastically.
‘‘One thing that you want as a coach is a team that displays some character under the pump. The first month is just so pivotal to our club. It swung in the balance at three-quarter-time and we could have been back in the same situation as last year, down in the dumps and trying to regroup against Melton. It’s a step forward, but that’s all it is: one step forward.’’
Shane Geddes — Melton South
‘‘For them to come out and get the first goal really quickly at the start of the last … at the nine-minute mark our body language looked like we were gone.
‘‘There’s 20 minutes to go and the margin is three goals.
‘‘It’s really disappointing the result, number one, but the way we went about it, too.
‘‘We made quite a lot of errors where we had guys in good positions but turned the footy over and gave it back to them.
‘‘I think both sides missed a couple [of shots]. Then [Travis] Minns kicked a difficult goal to get them going.
‘‘We had the first three goals, but then it was four goals to three … in the third quarter we had all the momentum and missed goals that could have made it two goals difference.
‘‘I think both sides were pretty fierce at the footy … the KPIs we keep, like tackles and missed tackles … the missed tackles were higher than what we wanted.
‘‘We didn’t lay many tackles in the last quarter; we just weren’t getting near them.
‘‘They got the footy and got momentum.’’
**
Melton South 10.14 (74) lt Darley 13.18 (96)
Goals — Melton South: M. Sutton 5, M. Sullivan, F. Holzer 2, M. Notman 1
Darley: L. Sobotnicki 4, D. Grenfell, M. Pask 2, B. Porter, T. Minns, J. Edwards, L. Guerra, S. McAllester 1
Best — Melton South: M. Notman, J. Doran, S. Tobin, M. Sullivan, M. Sutton
Darley: L. Sobotnicki, B. Inglis, T. Minns, D. Edwards, N. Jackel, J. Edwards
ROUND 1: Lake Wendouree v Bacchus Marsh, Darley v Melton, Redan v Ballarat, North Ballarat v Sebastopol (6.15pm), Sunbury v Melton South (Tuesday, April 24, 7.15pm), East Point bye
NETBALL
Melton South 26 lt Darley 50
Melton South: Danielle Robertson 12, Lisa Summers 11, Katarina Butigan 3
Darley: Elyce Carlyle 29, Sarah Thompson 21
