Sport
27 May, 2023
Demons outlast Eagles for opening points
HORSHAM Demons finally got their first win of the Wimmera Football League season with a tough seven-point win over the Warrack Eagles at the Horsham City Oval. The Eagles got out to a flyer kicking five goals to three in the first quarter to take...
HORSHAM Demons finally got their first win of the Wimmera Football League season with a tough seven-point win over the Warrack Eagles at the Horsham City Oval.
The Eagles got out to a flyer kicking five goals to three in the first quarter to take a 17 point lead into quarter time. The Demons kicked four goals to one in the second quarter to lead by five points at half time. They managed to stay on top in the third quarter to hold a slender three-point lead into the final break. They toughed it out in the last to win 12.16.88 to 12.9.81.
Demons Coach Tyler Blake spoke about the game and how much of a relief the win was.
“It was very competitive game. Both teams wanted their first win and we fought all the way to the end. We started out slow and were lucky we had the favourable conditions in the last quarter,” Blake said.
“It was a relief to finally get a win. It’s been a long time coming and we’ve had patches from the last few weeks where we played good football. To finally get that reward we will hopefully use it as a catalyst to get a few more wins during the year,” Blake explained.
Last week the Demons held the lead for most the match before falling away managing a draw and this week with having the lead most of the second half, particularly at three quarter time Blake’s message to the group was strong.
“The main message was there was going to be shifts in the momentum whether they kick three or we kick three. I told them not to panic if they got the momentum and if we got the momentum and got on top not to rest and to fight it out and they stuck to it,” Blake described.
Kay forward Jordan Motton kicked a game high seven goals for the Demons with 16 year old Max Bunworth again hitting the scoreboard. Ryan Mckenzie kicked five goals for the Eagles with Kyle Cheney and Daniel Bell amongst the better players.
Blake spoke about his best players, highlighted by Motton.
“As a 19 year old kid, he is special and talented. He had a great game and was still taking big strong marks and kicking straight in the tough conditions,” Blake said.
Sid Hernon came back to the club as a Ruckman this year and he played a great game in the reserves last week and got his chance and he played really well and Ben Janetzki, Brody Pope and Ben Lakin were all brilliant again. 16 year old Lachlan Hobbs played a great game on the win and Blake spoke highly of him.
“Lachlan has played his role and doesn’t look out of position like most of the youngsters. He found plenty of the ball and used his strength to outclass the opposition,” Blake said.
The Demons have the Bye this week and have no major injuries to speak of and Blake isn’t letting the Bye halt their momentum.
“We can look at it in two ways. It would be good to build off the win, but at the same time it was good to get that win and we can reflect and talk about it and come into next week we will be fired up after having a break both physically and mentally,” Blake concluded.
The Reserves had a comfortable 111 point win - 17.15.117 to 1.0.6. The juniors are also showing their promise. The Under 17’s remain 2 games clear at the top of the ladder with a 72 point win – 11.7.73 to 1 behind. The Under 14’s also remain on top of the ladder 1 game clear with a 46 point win – 8.8.56 to 1.4.10.
Ararat remain unbeaten with a 31 point win over the Giants at Beulah Memorial Park. The Giants won their first four games of the season and have lost their last two.
They battled hard on the weekend being in the match for most of the first three quarters trailing by three points at three quarter time but a one goal to five final term saw them lose 14.11.95 to 9.10.64. Rupert Sangster and Ben Taylor both kicked game high four goals for the Giants and Rats respectively. Ben Taylor was best on ground with Cody Lindsay and Sonny Kettle also prominent. For the Giants Coleman Schache and Jack Garvey were both solid again.
Dimboola also continue to show their premiership credentials with a tough six-point win over Minyip Murtoa at Minyip Recreation Reserve. Sam Godden kicked three goals for the visitors with Nicholas Caris kicking four for the home team in the 12.9.81 to 11.9.75 result.
Dylan Landt and Darcy Dubois were solid for the Roos whilst Warwick Stone and Lachlan Jones were amongst the best for the Burra.
In the final match Stawell got their second win of the season with a 19 point win over Nhill at Central Park. Nhill kept it close in the first half trailing by seven and four points at quarter and half time respectively but after half time the home team dominated to win 11.12.78 to 8.11.59.
Mitch Thorp kicked a game high four goals for the Warriors with Paul Summers, James Sclanders also best on ground. For the Tigers, Tom Driscoll kicked two with Lucas Dahlenburg and Jarryd Dahlenburg amongst the best.