Tara Murray
Darley stamped itself as the Ballarat Football League premiership favourites after beating Melton in the top of the table clash on Saturday.
Both sides entered the clash at Macpherson Park undefeated, with the Devils coming out on top and maintaining their perfect record.
Devils president Mark Shelly said it had been a match they were looking forward to.
“As far as we were concerned, we would find out where we were at,” he said.
“No disrespect to the other teams that we’ve played, in our mind Melton is the benchmark in the competition.
“Firstly, to match it with them and then b, come away with a win was really good.
“We hadn’t beaten them since 2017 and they had won their previous 16 games at home, it was a massive win.”
The Bloods kicked with a slight breeze in the first quarter and led by seven points at quarter time, before the Devils led by four points at the main break.
It was five points the Bloods way heading into the final break. The Devils kicked three goals to nil in the final term, to win 11.10 (76)-8.17 (17).
Shelly said it was a good game of football.
“It was hotly contested with both teams having patches of the game on their terms,” he said.
“We thought at three quarter time we were in the game, but we had to execute in the last quarter to get over the top of them.
“Looking for the sidelines the last five minutes we clearly had the game on our terms.”
Will Johnson and Billy Myers kicked three goals each for the Devils.
Shelly said Myers was their best, doing the job forward, down back and in the ruck.
For Melton, Ryan Carter and Bradan Kight kicked two goals each, with Blake Souter and Ben Archard named their best.
While on top, Shelly and the coaching group know there is still plenty of room for improvement to still come in the side.
There were still some outs of the senior side on the weekend, while five players who have played in senior BFL flags were playing in the reserves.
“There is still a lot of scope for improvement,” he said. “Dan spoke to the group after the game.
“Clearly in his mind there is still room for improvement, but we’re starting to feel confident that we can go deep into September.
“We’re building something special.”
The biggest thing for the Devils is that they are not only 7-0 but they are still yet to play a home match.
Shelly said their next match against North Ballarat might have to be moved to Ballarat, with a possibility their new rooms are still not ready.
If that’s the case, the other match against North Ballarat will be moved to Darley, meaning they play their last eight games at home.
In other matches, North Ballarat beat Melton South, 29.32 (206)-2.2 (14), while Bacchus Marsh got its first win of the season beating Lake Wendouree, 10.8 (68)-8.10 (58).
