A sign of a good team is when they win when not playing well – and Darley did exactly that on Saturday in the Ballarat Football League.
The Devils faced a fired-up Sunbury Lions, who weren’t going to let the them walk away with an easy win.
The Lions led for much of the game while the Devils hung in there and hit the front at just the right time to win 10.13 (73)-11.6 (72).
Devils coach Heath Scotland said he had seen signs in the lead-up to the game that his players weren’t completely “on”.
“I thought we looked sluggish at training and it came across into the game,” he said.
“[All] credit to Sunbury.
“Their stoppage work and contested ball had them on top. Kova [David Kovacevic] was giving them first use of the ball.”
Despite not playing well, there were plenty of good signs for the Devils to come out of the match – they still managed to get the win and they continued to fight when undermanned.
Chris Graham missed the match through suspension, while Matt Inglis was a late withdrawal.
“We just got out of jail,” Scotland said. “It’s definitely a positive out of yesterday when a lot of players were down and we got the win.
“It didn’t help when we had a player [Kyle Docherty] sent from the ground – at that stage Sunbury were 20 points up.
“It’s the second time in as many rounds. We had two players get sent off against Melton.
“We’ve been pretty lucky to get away with wins being a man down. It can’t happen every week.”
Docherty kicked three goals for the Devils with Scotland and Harley Inglis kicking two each.
Dan Roy was the best for the Devils. Leigh Spiteri and Scotland were also prominent.
The Devils enter the interleague break sitting 3-0 after wins against Bacchus Marsh, Melton and the Lions.
Scotland said the good start to the season was just the beginning.
“There’s still a lot of improvement to come if we’re to keep winning,” he said.
“We’ll freshen up and reset for the challenge against Sebastopol.”
In other matches, Melton recorded its first win of the season by defeating Ballarat.
The Bloods came from behind at half-time to win 15.9 (99)-12.6 (78). Dyson Stevens kicked three goals in a best-on-ground performance for the Bloods.
Melton South returned to the winners’ list by beating Sebastopol under lights.
Mitchell Banner kicked seven goals in a best-on-ground performance for the Panthers in the 16.15 (111)-6.8 (44) win. Brendan Fevola kicked four goals.
