Devils savour veteran milestone

By Todd Whelan

Devils favourite Darren Leonard will remember his 250th game as the day the Devils thrashed his former junior club Melton South, by a whopping 213 points.

The game was over at quarter time as the merciless Devils posted 10 unanswered goals, holding the winless Panthers scoreless.

If not for rain in the last quarter the rampant Devils could easily have finished with 40 goals, such was the gulf in class between second and eleventh placed sides on the table.

Billy Myers and Will Johnson booted seven goals each to feature prominently while as many as seven other Devils hit the scoreboard to consolidate the one sided nature of the affair.

Star midfielder Brett Bewley (three goals), Andy Azzopardi (four goals), Darren Leonard (four goals) and Leigh Spiteri (two goals) proved a handful all day for the clearly undermanned Panthers who appear to the eye at least 10 players shy of being competitive. The embattled club will welcome their final game of the season this week against Redan before a timely bye in round 18 ends their 2023 season commitments.

The Devils piled on 10,10 and eight goals in each of the opening three terms to lead by a staggering 185 points at the final change.

The flag contenders chose to manage Shane Page and Matt Denham with eyes toward a bigger picture that awaits the 12-win Devils.

Remarkably the Devils sit a game and percentage clear in second place on the BFNL ladder behind reigning Premiers Melton, a far cry from their winless 2021 season.

Coach Dan Jordan in his second year in charge would be well aware the dominant nature of Saturdays win is essentially a false economy given the Panthers troubles.

Jordan, who recently signed on for another two years to extend his tenure to the end of the 2025 season would be rapt there were no casualties out of the weekend’s action.

The Devils now have Melton and Sunbury to round out their home and away season. One win from their remaining two games would guarantee a top two finish.

Expect the Devils to recall Page and Denham for the topflight encounter while the Bloods will be buoyed by the returns of Ryan Carter and Adrian Monitto.

What the coaches said

Jordan (Darley) – “Executed the way we wanted and played good team footy all day. Great to see Leonard get some individual reward in the last quarter in his 250th. A great clubman.”

Hoy (M/South) – “Outclassed. The boys tried hard and never gave up.”

** Don’t miss Saturday’s action LIVE from Darley Park on radio via Apple 98.5FM from 2pm.

It’s Darley (2) v Melton (1) – it doesn’t get any better.

Final score

Darley 33.23-221 def Melton South 1.3-9

Darley (Best) – W. Johnson, B. Bewley, B. Myers, An Azzopardi, D. Leonard, L. Spiteri.

Darley (Goals) – W. Johnson 7, B. Myers, D. Leonard 4, An Azzopardi, B. Bewley 3, D. Bishop, L. Spiteri 2, L. Baker, M. Gardiner 1.