Burton Bullies Devils

Bacchus Marsh 11.11(77) defat Darley 3.3 (21)

ARCH rivals Bacchus Marsh and Darley went to battle in their traditional ANZAC round clash, with the Marsh far too good for their Eastern Bloc counterparts in McDonalds Ballarat Football league action.

2018 Henderson medallist Dan Burton was the star of the show with his three final quarter goals the highlight of his best on ground performance.

Darley tried Kirk Fenton, Joel Cadman and acting skipper Darren Leonard in the ruck in an attempt to combat the influence of the Cobras big man, but in typical Burton fashion he was a cut above anyone that Devils coach Dan Roy through his way.

Already without captain Shane Page and superstar swingman Jake Edwards, it was expected to be an uphill battle for the Devils but their performance under light has left many wondering if they are even finals contenders.

The game began as the ultimate stalemate with Cobras’ captain Jake Owen and Devils spearhead Ben Said going goal for goal with Bacchus holding on to a slender one point lead at the first break.

However, Darley were unable to continue to match the intensity of the contest with Burton’s great ruck work allowing young on-baller Nick Stuhldrier, playing coach Tom German and veteran Tyson Shea to continue to rack up bulk possessions.

The dangerous nature of the Bacchus Marsh forward line was on a full display with the Owens brothers dangerous in the air and the 2018 Tony Lockett medallist Aaron Willitts snapping home two second quarter goals to continue the momentum.

Four goals to zero in the second term gave Bacchus a 24-point half time lead with poor goal kicking in the third term only extending the margin by 10-points, leaving the scoreboard to not fully reflecting the commanding lead they well deserved.

The Devils failed to trouble the scorekeeper in the second and third terms with a late final quarter Leigh Spiteri goal their only major after quarter time.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors with recruit Stephen Doran being helped from the field in the dying moments of the game in what seemed to be a serious leg injury and earmarking the club’s worse start to a season in over a decade.

Next for the Devils is a much-needed bye after a poor performance, with Bacchus Marsh travelling to the Melton Recreation Reserve to take on the Panthers who were gallant in a one-point loss to Redan on Saturday afternoon.