Football
28 April, 2026
Demons surge late in disrupted contest
Laharum’s senior football side overcame a spirited Rupanyup outfit to claim victory in their round three Anzac Day clash on Saturday, April 25.
Playing at Rupanyup, a power outage at the reserve saw the game conclude early in the fourth quarter, with Laharum leading 5.12 (42) to Rupanyup’s 2.7 (19).
It was the home side that dominated possession and territory in the first quarter, and after several chances, finally kicked the first goal through a Blake Turner set shot.
Riley Downer helped Rupanyup extend their lead to 17-2 early in the second quarter.
After struggling to capitalise on more forward 50 opportunities early in the quarter, Laharum eventually kicked majors through Phil Butsch and Monty Wynne to trail by just one point (19-18) at halftime.
While struggling to hit the scoreboard, the visitors took control in the third quarter, with two Jack Fenner goals helping the Demons take a 36-19 lead.
With power to the ground’s lights failing to properly restore after the initial outage, the game was called, with Laharum claiming the four points.
Fenner eventually led the game with three goals, with Todd Heynen, Josh Hutchinson and Butsch among the best players for Laharum.
Riley Downer was the best on ground for Rupanyup, with Jimmy Finnigan and Jack Kreuzberger also having strong performances.
Laharum coach Robbie Miller said the side improved after their slow start, admitting they struggled to execute when in possession.
“Rupanyup obviously came to play, and that's a credit to them,” he said.
“We were a bit slow in the response, but as the game wore on, we managed to control the game a lot better.
“We were quite on top with our forward 50 entries, but executing that last kick going inside 50 really hurt us, as well as our decision making going forward.
“There were a lot of numbers inside our forward 50 that made hitting targets quite difficult, and then we would find ourselves turning it over and being responsive to the turnover.”
With the side having to adapt roles due to several injuries, the Demons coach was pleased with the efforts from several players.
“Todd Heynen is always very composed and was big for us in the backline,” Miller said.
“Josh Hutchinson stood up quite well for a young player.
“We had Ryan Thomas come into the ruck without Shan (Argall) or Pat MacDonough, and he went down five minutes into the game, so we had to go with a very makeshift ruck lineup, which included Josh stepping up there.
“With the adversity we faced, I think we adapted pretty well with a lot of blokes playing different roles yesterday and a lot of young guys in as well.”
Miller credited Rupanyup for stifling their game plan for most of the first half, admitting the team needs to be more adaptable in-game.
“Rupanyup were a bit better at the contest than us, and they were executing their game plan well with that,” he said.
“We've got to find ways to adapt to that as well on our end.
“Teams look at that, see our strengths, and they try to take our strengths away, which Rupanyup did for a lot of that game.”