Impressive Devils tame Lions

By Todd Whelan

Darley remains unbeaten after a dominant 56-point win on the road over the Sunbury Lions last Saturday.

Reigning Henderson medalist Brett Bewley (six goals) was simply outstanding in arguably his best game for the Devils. Lions coach Travis Hodgson conceded he had no answers for the 28-year-old, labelling the former Fremantle Docker “a superstar”. Bewley’s performance was worthy of the entry ticket alone as he and full-time season addition Billy Myers (five goals) monstered their opposition at ground level and in the air while making a blue print example on the value of execution in front of goal.

Sunbury players were made to look on in awe of the Devils captain who have accumulated near 50 disposals at 80%+ efficiency to complement his career high bag of six goals.

Bewley and Myers weren’t alone, merely leading from the front as the Devils delivered one of their best “team” displays under second year coach Dan Jordan. For the record, Jordan and his support staff enjoyed a day out of their own, successfully implementing a masterstroke plan to dismantle the Lions.

The Devils defence, led by Matthew Brett were rock solid, their discipline exceptional. Lions forward duo Cody Brand and Rivva Karpany were kept goalless by the “stingy”, frugal natured Devils defence. The 195cm former Essendon AFL listed Brand did goal later in the third term but not before he was moved up the ground to manufacture some degree of impact.

The Cadman brothers were super for the Black and White while Matt Denham unofficially announced his arrival with his best game for his new club following a three year break from the sport. Premiership trio Shane Page, Luther Baker and Jake Ancrum had crucial moments, halving outnumbered contests until the ‘all willing’ reinforcements arrived. The nature of the Devils united front was palpable with the inclusion of four sets of brothers – the Cadman’s, the Azzopardi’s, the Ward’s and the Matricardi’s. Off season new comer Timmy Tyler made his debut in the absence of young ruckman Lucas Impey (concussion) and provided a contest.

The Devils have Melton South (11th) and Lake Wendouree (9th) in coming weeks before a highly anticipated return to Darley Park for a meeting with reigning Premiers Melton. Both sides are likely to remain unbeaten into the Round 8 fixture to assume Match of the Round billing for this battle between the hunters (Darley) and the hunted.

The Devils have not beaten Melton since Round 2, April 29, 2017.

*Saturday LIVE radio Apple 98.5FM – Darley vs Melton South from 2pm.

What the coaches said:
Jordan (Darley) – “Good four quarter effort from our boys against a quality side. Starting to see some of the football we can produce but plenty still to work on.”

Hodgson (Sunbury) – “Disappointing day, we failed the test. We never gave up but we were comprehensively outplayed after half time. Darley executed the basic fundamentals extremely well and us poorly. Our inability to contain genuine superstars Bewley and Myers added significantly to the pain.”

Final scores
Darley 17.8-110 def Sunbury 7.12-54

Darley (Whelan’s Best) – B. Bewley, M. Brett, D. Cadman, B. Myers, M. Denham, J. Cadman, L. Baker, S. Page,
Darley (Goals) – B. Bewley 6, B. Myers 5, W. Johnson 2, B. Young 1, J. Cadman, A. Azzopardi, T. Van Leith.