Demons lead from the start

By Glen Atwell
SPRINGVALE Districts defeated downtown rivals Lyndale by 52 points at Barry Powell Reserve in Division Two of the Southern Football League on Saturday.
The Demons led the Pumas from start to finish and booted five goals to one in the last quarter to kick-start their 2006 season with a percentage-boosting win.
Steve Aitken, Luke Swan, Mark Riley, Darin Joyce and Rob Burns each kicked two goals for the Demons.
Matt Caples booted three goals and JJ Aboujaber kicked two for the Pumas.
Demons coach Stephen Hughes said the win was a great confidence-booster.
“We probably didn’t expect to win by so much, but Lyndale really stacked up their defence halfway through the second quarter,” he said.
“It was a good all-round performance. Nigel Scott was terrific and so was our captain Brad Scott.”
Darin ‘Big Show’ Joyce also impressed Hughes.
“Joyce has really put in a massive amount of work in the preseason and has set himself high expectations this season,” hughes said.
“He is a great target all over the ground and uses his large frame to his advantage, but for a big guy he moves very well.”
For Pumas coach Danny Scott, there is plenty of hard work ahead.
“It was a tough day, but I’m not going to look into round one results too much,” he said.
Scott said a number of positives came out of the game despite the heavy loss.
“Caples played his first game back from a year off after a knee reconstruction and will be a great target up forward this year,” he said.
“Russell Weeding made a great start for the club and was no doubt amongst the best players.”
The Easter break will give Pumas ruckman Matt Schink time to recover from an ankle injury he sustained in the first minute of Saturday’s game.
In round two on 22 April, Springvale hosts Heatherton and Lyndale travels to Canterbury.