Tara Murray
Mathew Sproule ends his time as Melton Centrals coach on a high with an upset win against Diggers Rest on Saturday in the Riddell District Football League.
Sproule, who was in his second stint as Centrals coach, announced to the playing group before the final round that he would be stepping down.
Sproule, who lives in Ocean Grove, said while he loves the club and group, it was the best decision for him.
“There’s too much travel,” he said. “When your son says to you after round two that it’s too much travel and you have too much work on, you know deep down.
“I told the club on Thursday. Hopefully they’ll announce some recruits in the next week or two and get things organised for next season.”
Centrals on Saturday had one of their biggest wins in a number of years and of Sproule’s time, knocking off Diggers Rest.
While the Burras had little to play for, having already locked up a double chance, the win was still a special one.
“It was a pleasant surprise to finish that way,” Sproule said. “The playing group the last two weeks has shown a lot of motivation and played out the season really well.
“They’re a great group and turn up every night and it was nice to reward them.”
Sproule said with a couple of big milestones the last couple of rounds, the group really bought it and wanted to honour their mates.
On Saturday, the Centrals got the win against the Burras, 8.3 (51)-5.15 (45).
It was close all day with Centrals leading by 11 points heading into the final quarter.
They were able to hold on as the Burras came hard in the last quarter.
Sproule said they knew they had to shut down Mitch Day and Mitch Jensen if they were to get the win.
“We kept their impact to a minimum,” he said. “ Jonny Ferri did the job on Day. He’s been beaten twice for the year.
“Dylan McDonald was on Jensen. He kicked a couple of goals, but there were a couple of times that no one was stopping him.
“The backline was great.”
Brad Layton kicked five goals in a best on ground performance. Sproule said it was his best game for the club and that he had benefited from the return of Milan Savic, who helped with the forward structure.
The win was Centrals third for the year, with the other two coming against bottom side Lancefield.
Sproule said with a lack of depth and numbers overall, it had been tough season.
“We lost six or eight players,” he said. “It was a little big challenging and we didn’t have the numbers in the twos.”
Sproule said he wasn’t planning on coaching anywhere else next season.
He said he was open to other roles at Centrals depending on the circumstances.
