Devils hold off spirited Cobras on Anzac weekend

IN a fiery affair, Darley have made it two from two to start off season with a victory against their arch cross-town rivals this past Saturday at Darley Park, winning 12.15.87 to Bacchus Marsh’s 10.10.70.

For the seventh year in a row, the Devils and Bacchus Marsh played off in their now annual Anzac weekend clash, with Darley continuing their dominance on the big day with their third consecutive victory against the Cobras.

Post-game, Devils captain Shane Page said, “It is always special to play on or for Anzac Day… we knew they were going to come out and play hard being the first time we play this year and we had to weather the storm and the challenge of Bacchus Marsh.”

The Cobras stormed back into the contest with four goals in a five or so minutes in the third term and some inaccurate goal kicking from the Devils made the scoreboard once again flatter their opponents more than it should of.

“We know they are a young side with plenty of fresh faces so we did worry that we couldn’t put them away a little and if we kept giving them a sniff it would be a closer game than maybe it should have been,” Page said.

However, the class ex-AFL footballers, Nick Graham and Jake Edwards prevailed and stopped any real challenge from the Cobras. Mark Hanson was also impactful up forward, with his second bag of three for the season earning him the Anzac Medal for best on ground for the Devils.

Bacchus Marsh slip to 0-2 for the first time since season 2015, a year which they failed to qualify for finals footy.

They can take some positives out the performances of 2018 Henderson Medallist, Daniel Burton, who was clearly the Cobras best in the loss, as well as the work of Jacob Chisari who has been able to find great form after missing the majority of last year with injury.