Supreme demolition job

By Todd Whelan

Season journeymen Darley monstered a winless Melton South by a whopping 201 points at Melton Rec Reserve last Saturday.

It was the fifth consecutive win on the road for Dan Jordan’s men leaving them one of two unbeaten sides at the summit of the BFNL ladder.

While the result heading in was considered a foregone conclusion, the Devils made full use of their “share” opportunity ending with 13 individual goal kickers, led by Billy Myers who finished with nine.

Devil’s defender Mace Cousins took a ‘Mark of the Year’ contender amid a near best on ground performance alongside Matty Brett, who was sublime with his aerial prowess and pinpoint distribution. The two were instrumental denying the Panthers and often the genesis in transition behind a significant number of the Devils 50 scoring shots.

Midfield trio Lucas Impey (ruck), Brett Bewley and Luther Baker combined to dominate the Panthers at centre clearance, with predictable regularity before Bewley was “parked” in the second half allowing Matt Denham to adequately fill the void. Denham’s confidence and touch continues on an upward trajectory, which is great news for Devils fans and in particular Denham himself, following a lengthy time away from the game (ACL injury + COVID period) prompting a premature retirement.

Darren Leonard (three goals) made a safe return for his first game of the season while Trae Van Leith (four goals), Dylan Bishop (three goals) and Andy Azzopardi (three goals) were lively contributors in the front half with their offensive run and pressure.

The Devils will remain on the road for another fortnight before a highly anticipated return to a fully operational Darley Park facility beckons in Round 9 against North Ballarat.

The Lakers loom as the Devils sixth victim this Saturday, albeit a fourth against bottom four opposition.

Clearly, bigger fish remain on the radar for the Devils, namely reigning Premiers Melton a week later in Round 8.

Can’t wait.

What the coaches said:
Dan Jordan (Darley) – “Pleased with the aptitude to stick to the task all day. A process game more than the result and tried a few different things. Happy to come away with the result we did.”
Jason Hamilton (M/South) – “Darley are the best team we have played all year. We have a very young and experienced team and will learn a lot from the game. We will keep pushing forward for the rest of the season.”

Final scores
Darley 33.17-215 def Melton South 2.2-14

Darley (Whelan’s best) – M. Cousins, M. Brett, B. Myers, M. Denham, L. Baker, D. Bishop, B. Bewley, L. Impey
Darley (Goals) – B. Myers 9, T. Van Leith 4, A. Azzopardi 3, D. Leonard, D. Bishop, M. Denham 2, B. Bewley, J. Cadman, L. Baker 1, L. Impey, B. Sullivan, R. Matricardi, S. Page