Tara Murray
An undermanned Diggers Rest still had enough depth to come away with a solid win in the Riddell District Football League on Saturday.
With a big chunk of their best side on the side lines or overseas, the Burras dug deep into their depth to face Macedon.
After a close first half, with the Burras leading by eight points at half time, the Burras kicked away in the second half to win, 10.9 (69)-3.9 (27).
Burras coach Jamie Lobb said they went into the game thinking it would be a danger game missing so many players.
“It was good,” he said. “It was a bit of a scrappy affair early. They played some numbers back behind the ball.
“We needed to get used to playing with each other with the inclusions and coming off the bye
“The second half we got it back on our terms, which was nice.”
Lobb said they were missing seven or eight from their best side, but showed the depth they had in the club
Among those missing was Austin Cicero, Chris Lawton, Deven Costigan, Cole Laurie, Luke Delahey, Mark Orr, Mitch Jensen and Tom Evans.
“The depth is pretty good at the club,” Lobb said.
“It was a danger game and we were missing some high quality players. All the guys who stepped up, helped us get over the line.”
Mitchell Day kicked four goals for the Burras, while Josh Flower chipped in with three goals.
Lobb said Jaidyan Caruana, Taylor Hine and Matthew Krul all played their best games for the season, while Lachlan Hickey also had a good game.
He said it was a number of their key players that really stood up when they needed them to.
The Burras remain on top of the table, undefeated at this stage.
They face second placed Wallan this Saturday, in another big match. Lobb said they were hoping to get three or four guys back into the side.
“We’ll get a few back for this week and a few more should return for the Riddell game the following week.
“We ticked the first box yesterday [Saturday] against Macedon in a tough run. We now have Wallan which will be a tough game this week, they are in good form.”
In other matches, Wallan continued its good form, beating Melton Centrals, 9.17 (71)-7.7 (49), while Woodend-Hesket beat the Western Rams, 26.9 (165)-3.4 (23) the other game with Josh Pound kicking seven goals.
Riddell had to do it the hard way against Romsey, winning 11.9 (75)-8.8 (56) after being 25 points down at half time.
