Darley came away with the four points, but it wasn’t a performance coach Heath Scotland will remember fondly.
At half-time in their Ballarat Football League match against Ballarat, the Devils looked headed for another big win.
Up by 39 points, they had been by far the better team.
But the Devils didn’t put their foot down and storm away.
Instead, the Swans reduced the margin to 35 points at three-quarter time and then kicked the first three goals of the last quarter.
The Devils steadied with two of their own, but the Swans continued to press, kicking the last four goals of the game but falling short in a 15.11 (101)-14.10 (94) loss.
For Scotland, it was a disappointing second half in which his side struggled with the mental aspects of the game.
He said he thought his side had done enough to hold on for the win.
“Take nothing away from Ballarat,” he said. “They exposed some of our flaws and we’re certainly not happy from our end.
“Mentally, the players shut down at half-time. We had the game in our hands.”
Harley Inglis and Kyle Docherty kicked three goals apiece for the Devils.
Despite the disappointing second half and a loss in their previous game, against Lake Wendouree, Scotland is not greatly concerned.
The Devils sit atop of the ladder, percentage ahead of Lake Wendouree.
“Our style has dropped off the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We had been really good early in the season. We’ll refocus on the areas that got us off to a great start.”
He said they still had four senior players to come back into the side, including three of their starting midfielders.
Matt Inglis, Dan Roy, Rhys Ellis and Scotland all missed Saturday’s game.
Scotland said they were hoping to settle their side in the next few weeks.
The Devils weren’t the only top side to suffer a scare, with Bacchus Marsh having to settle for a draw against East Point.
The Cobras blew a 40-point quarter-time lead to trail by four points at half-time. They were up by 16 points at the last break, but it wasn’t enough, the Kangaroos drawing even to force a 14.10 (94)-13.16 (94) draw.
Jarrah Maksymow kicked five goals for the Cobras with Scott Sherlock named their best.
The Cobras have slipped two points behind ladder leaders Darley and Lake Wendouree.
Melton and Melton South both had byes because they played their round nine match as a standalone match before the first round.
