Devils too strong for Lions

AN eight goal blitz from the Devils in the opening term gave visiting Redan little or no hope repeating an upset result at Darley Park.

The Lions have proven the Devils ‘bogie side’ in recent times, having won four of their previous five meetings, but this game was all over at quarter time.

The Devils were at their best for a 24 minute period post the six-minute mark, led by Harley Inglis (three goals), Brady Wright (two goals), and dominant midfield trio Brett Bewley, Luther Baker and Matt Denham.

The Lions showed some resistance in the second term to win the quarter, before the Devils steadied after the main break to extend the lead to 66 points at the final siren.

Billy Myers booted five second half goals to finish with six, ahead of Inglis, who continued his solid start to the season with a bag of five.

Brett Bewley (three goals), Baker, and Denham were the stars of the show, despite the Myers and Inglis influence on goal.

Defenders Zane Lehuray and Matthew Brett were sound shutting down Marty Boyer (no goals) and Grant Bell (two goals). Lions next gen quartet Rory Gunsser, Zac Mortlock, Kye Jess, and Riley Collins continue to show promise, while Billy Douglas (ruck) and Lachie George tolied manfully around stoppage despite the unenviable task denying a rampant Devils midfield.

The Devils extend their winning streak at home to 11, usurping their previous average winning margin (62 points) for the period.

How the coaches rated their performance

OVERALL Jordan (Darley): “Solid performance, happy with the result. Again we saw glimpses of our best but credit to Redan who kept coming at us. Still plenty more to work on as we continue to build into the season.”

Learmonth (Redan): “We were caught out early by an organised and experienced outfit. For the middle part of the game we gave good effort but turned the ball over far too often. Lots to learn from the opportunity to play against Bewley and Co.”

DEFENCE Jordan (Darley): “Pleased with their output on the whole. We put some time into (Grant) Bell and (Marty) Boyer kept them to two goals (between them). Zane Lehuray was really solid for us. Restricting opposition to just eight goals will win you most games of footy.”

MIDS Jordan (Darley): “Our most senior / experienced led group worked really hard both ways. We kept (Lachie) George relatively quiet around stoppage which was a plan for us. Brett (Bewley) and Luther (Baker) led the boys from the front, they were very important for us today.”

FORWARDS Jordan (Darley): “Were able to get on the end of a few on the back of some hard work and pressure from our mids. Harley Inglis (five goals) had a day out for a small forward and was super for us. Billy Myers (six goals) showed his class and strength in the second half to play a significant role in the extent of the margin.”

Final scores: Darley 8.1-49, 10.3-63, 13.8-86, 19.11-125 def Redan 1.2-8, 3.5-23, 5.8-38, 8.11-59

Darley (Whelan’s Best): B.Bewley, L.Baker, M.Denham, B.Myers, H.Inglis, Z.Lehuray, Ad.Azzopardi, M.Brett.

Darley (Goals): B.Myers 6, H.Inglis 5, B.Bewley 3, B.Wright 2, W.Johnson, D.Bishop, Ad.Azzopardi.

Redan (Whelan’s Best): R.Gunsser, B.Douglass, L.George, Z.Mortlock, R.Collins, K.Jess, J.Werts.

Redan (Goals): G.Bell 2, H.McNamara, L.George, D.Harten, S.Broadbent, R.Gunsser,B.Carroll.