By ROY WARD
SPRINGVALE Districts made a stellar start to the Southern Football League division 2 season with a 103-point win over a disappointing South Yarra on Friday night.
Playing under floodlights at Springvale Reserve, the Demons revelled in the spotlight, kicking the first goal and never trailing, even keeping the Lions goalless until the opening minutes of the third term.
Demons coach Clint Einsiedel was very happy with his young side’s opening performance after losing several experienced heads over the off-season. “I couldn’t be happier with the start we’ve made tonight. We had a game plan and the boys stuck to it for 100 per cent of the time.”
Einsiedel praised his emerging players who are entering their third and fourth senior seasons for their application on the night.
The Demons showed plenty of run entering their forward 50 and made a few impressive moves from the half-back line that resulted in goals.
The Demons visit Hampton in the next round and face a much tougher test than the undermanned Lions, but Einsiedel believes his side will continue to impress.
“The boys will go in super confident after this performance and that can be a good thing. We have to learn how to handle confidence and sometimes you need it to believe in what you are doing on the football field.”
Einsiedel also applauded his club for hosting a night match and urged the SFL to look at granting more night matches to the Demons.
“Ideally I think we wish we could do this two or three times a season. It’s a great experience. I really enjoyed it, although you need the weather to put on a good show or it can be very ordinary for spectators.
“So we couldn’t play night games in the middle of winter, so they would need to be early in the season.”
Einsiedel believes his side hasn’t put its best side on the field yet. “We have a few long-term injury players coming back in the reserves, we won’t be at our best until round five or six,” he said.
FINAL SCORES
Victorian Football League:
Bendigo 20.17 (137) d Casey Scorpions 9.12 (66) at Casey Fields yesterday.
Development league, bye.
TAC Cup:
Dandenong Stingrays 12.13 (85) d North Ballarat Rebels 7.10 (52).
Southern Football League:
Division 1: Dingley 26.18 (174) d Heatherton 10.10 (70); East Brighton 16.11 (107) d Clayton 7.10 (52).
Division 2: Springvale Districts 20.19 (139) d South Yarra 4.9 (33); Murrumbeena 15.12 (102) d Oakleigh District 8.10 (58); Southern Dragons 12.14 (86) d Black Rock 9.8 (62).
Division 3: Dandenong 20.11 (131) d Hallam 10.8 (68); Sandown 13.14 (92) d Ashwood 10.11 (71); Doveton Eagles 13.11 (89) d Endeavour Hills 5.15 (45); Mount Waverley 21.15 (141) d Lyndale 7.7 (49).
Eastern Football League:
Division 1: Season starts this Saturday.
Division 2: Bayswater 17.11 (113) d Doncaster 15.10 (100); Montrose 18.18 (126) d Doncaster East 13.10 (88); Mooroolbark 17.20 (122) d Waverley Blues 15.7 (97); Rowville 14.17 (101) d Mulgrave 14.8 (92); Upper Ferntree Gully 16.9 (105) d Donvale 15.11 (101).
Casey Cardinia Football League: Doveton 24.21 (165) d Hampton Park 6.7 (43).
THIS WEEK
Victorian Football League:
Northern Blues v Casey Scorpions, Preston City Oval 11am (development).
Scorpions seniors, bye.
TAC Cup: Dandenong Stingrays, bye.
Southern Football League:
Division 1: Dingley v St Kilda City, Souter Oval, 2pm; Clayton v Heatherton, Meade Reserve, Sunday 2pm.
Division 2: South Yarra v Oakleigh District, Fritsch Holzer Park 2pm; Hampton v Springvale Districts, Peterson Street Reserve 2pm; Skye v Southern Dragons, Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve 2.30pm.
Division 3: Ashwood v Hallam, Essex Heights Reserve, 2pm; Dandenong v Caulfield, Greaves Reserve 2pm; Mount Waverley v Endeavour Hills, Mayfield Reserve 2pm; Doveton Eagles v Sandown, Power Reserve 2pm; Moorabbin v Lyndale, Widdop Crescent Reserve 2pm.
Eastern Football League:
Division 1, 2.10pm: South Croydon v Croydon, Cheong Park; East Burwood v Scoresby, East Burwood Reserve; Lilydale v Knox, Lilydale Sports Oval; Blackburn v Norwood, Morton Park; Noble Park v Balwyn, Pat Wright Senior Oval; Vermont v East Ringwood, Vermont Recreation Reserve.
Division 2, 2.10pm: Bayswater v Montrose, Bayswater Oval; Donvale v Mulgrave, Donvale Reserve; Waverley Blues v Doncaster, Mt Waverley Reserve; Rowville v Upper Ferntree Gully, Seebeck Oval; Doncaster East v Mooroolbark, Zerbes Reserve.
Casey Cardinia Football League, 2.15pm: Cranbourne v Berwick, Casey Fields; ROC v Pakenham, Officer Recreation Reserve; Beaconsfield v Narre Warren, Perc Allison Oval; Keysborough v Tooradin-Dalmore, Rowley Allen Reserve; Doveton, Hampton Park, bye.
All games on Saturday unless otherwise stated.
