By Tara Murray
Bacchus Marsh may be out of finals contention, but the Cobras are determined to finish the Ballarat Football League season on a high.
After dropping their past four matches, the Cobras returned to the winners’ list with a big win against Melton South at the weekend.
The favourites stepped it up to win 23.24 (162)-6.9 (45).
Cobras coach Pete Davey said it was nice to see the playing group smiling again.
“It was nice after five weeks to get one,” he said.
“The loss against Redan after the siren took the wind out of our sails.
“It’s hard for the boys to be up when they know they won’t be in finals.”
Davey said they had gone into the game keen to exploit the fitness of their opponents and they did that well, finishing off quarters strongly.
“Playing on a big ground, we thought that was where we could get them,” he said.
“We were able to score at the back end of each quarter, as they ran out of legs.
“We didn’t expect to win by that much, but we thought it was a good chance to get a good win.”
Daniel Burton continued his good form and was named best on ground.
Brodie Easton was strong in the middle, while Jake Owen kicked four goals.
Davey said Owen could have had a day out had he kicked straight.
The Cobras sit eighth heading into the final round of the season. Seventh is the highest they can finish.
Davey said while it was disappointing not to play finals, those within the club understood why.
“There’s been a number of different reasons why, but we’ll go again next year.
“We’ve played 39 players throughout the season and debuted 10 guys. It shows where we’re at with a personnel perspective.
“The kids have shown in patches that they can play senior footy. The next few years they will grow into senior footballers.
“We’ve had reserve guys who have played the whole season in the seniors.”
The Cobras will finish off their season against the Sunbury Lions on Saturday.
Davey said he expected the finals-bound Lions to be fired up after the Cobras beat them early in the season.
“There’s a fair bit of pride to play for. It’s a big thing for us.”
The final round is set to be an interesting one, with the top five sides all separated by percentage.
Darley sits third after beating top side East Point on Saturday, 14.10 (94)-11.14 (80).
Melton lost 10.14 (74)-8.7 (55) to Sebastopol and sits sixth, a game behind the top five.
