By Tara Murray
Darley is finding form as it heads into the Ballarat Football League finals.
After a tough loss against the Sunbury Lions in round 13, the Devils have now put together three wins, the latest on Saturday against lowly-ranked Ballarat.
It wasn’t the four-quarter performance they were after, but the Devils came away with the win, 17.11 (113)-9.8 (62).
Devils coach Heath Scotland said they were happy with the performance.
The Devils led by just seven points at the last break.
“We started off well, but then we weren’t as productive in the middle two quarters.
“We came home pretty strong. It wasn’t a four-quarter performance.”
Three of their more experienced players were the standouts up forward.
Scotland, Jarrod Edwards and Nick Graham kicked four goals each.
Scotland said Edwards and Graham were the best two on the ground.
“Jarrod had a lot of scoring opportunities and went down back where he made his name for himself in the last quarter.
“He could have scored eight goals if we had kept him up forward.
“Nick came back in after missing three games and he didn’t look like he had missed a beat. He was strong in the clearances.”
Jacob Zeestraten, Bryce Stephenson, Leigh Spiteri and Brian Graham were the other standouts.
Scotland said he was happy with how the team was shaping up.
“We were poor against Sunbury, but prior to that we had been OK.
“We’ve been really good since that game [Sunbury] with wins against North Ballarat, East Point and Ballarat.
“We’re starting to get our best players back. Key personnel who have been out, we’re now getting games into them.”
Only Casey Young and Bailey Waasdorp were missing from the side at the weekend.
The win leaves the Devils in third spot. The top-four teams all finished equal on points, with percentage coming into play.
Scotland said they were happy with third place.
“We had a decent victory, but it wasn’t good enough to make the gap,” he said.
“It’s been where we have won grand finals from the last two times.”
In a bonus for the Devils, their elimination final will be played at Darley Park on Saturday.
They will face Redan.
The Devils had a win over Redan early in the season, but Scotland expects a close match this time round.
“They have [Lachlan] George, [Orren] Stephenson and [Shaun] Grigg who could come back in potentially.
“Hopefully it will be a big final and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Melton faces the Sunbury Lions in the other elimination final on Sunday, also at Darley Park.
Melton South finished its season on a high, beating North Ballarat City, 14.10 (94)-9.13 (67).
Bacchus Marsh lost its match to the Sunbury Lions. The match was Pete Davey’s last in charge of the Cobras.
