By DAVID NAGEL
IT’s taken four-long years, and under different guises, but the South East Football Netball League (SEFNL) is now top-10 in the state after a 51-point victory over Sunraysia at Casey Fields.
The Worksafe Country Championship win made it four on the trot for the Demons, the first three as the Casey Cardinia Football League before a name change last year.
Ranked 17 by the Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) in 2012, the Demons have climbed to 10th with victories over Nepean, Wimmera, Bellarine, and now Sunraysia.
Coach Michael ‘Jock’ Holland is confident his side can advance to the pointy end of the rankings with a successful trip to the Murray League next year.
“It is satisfying but I think we can go further,” Holland said after the match.
“I think we can get into the top five or six, but we need everyone to commit and I think we’ve created a culture that seems to be working right now. It does mean something for these players to play interleague, they’re not just throwing a jumper on for a game of footy, and I think they showed that today.”
SEFNL weathered an early storm from Sunraysia, before breaking the game open with eight of nine goals, either side of quarter time.
Pakenham’s Jake Smith was electric early, kicking the Demons’ first three goals on his way to five on his interleague debut. Doveton’s Russell Gabriel was outstanding in the ruck, while a backline led by Pakenham’s Nathan Brown, Cranbourne’s Brandon Osborne, Beaconsfield’s Daniel Battaglin, and Berwick pair, Michael Johnson and Michael Riseley, gelled like they’d been playing together for years.
Throw in the odd splash of brilliance from Pakenham’s Troy Toussaint and Beaconsfield’s Daniel Johnson … and that back-half looked dynamite.
Narre Warren’s Matt Lee and Dylan Quirk were also in the play, while Beaconsfield’s Damien Johnston set up many forward thrusts with his creative handball.
But the star of the show, of course, was Narre Warren champion Michael Collins.
When the game was hot early, so was Collo, who had a 10-possession first quarter, including nine penetrating kicks that put the Sunraysia defence under immense pressure. He also slotted two goals in the first term on his way to 28 possession game that ended early when he was carried from the ground at the eight minute mark of the final term.
Cranbourne’s Marc Holt finished with three for the Demons, while his co-captain, Berwick’s Michael Harold, made his presence felt with some ferocious tackling at the stoppages.
Collins received the VCFL Medal for best on ground.
