Demons ruckman Dean Kovacic palms the ball down towards a team-mate at Springvale Reserve on Saturday. 20198 By Paul Pickering
A SEVEN-goal haul from returning spearhead Mark Williams guided Springvale Districts to an upset victory over Mordialloc in Division One of the Southern Football League on Saturday.
The Demons withstood a final-quarter comeback to triumph by six points, claiming just their third victory of the season.
Tellingly, it was only Williams’ second game of the season, the other resulting in another impressive victory over Chelsea Heights at Newcomen Road in round six.
Williams missed the start of the season with an ankle injury before injuring his hand when he fell through a roof a month ago.
His importance to the team was confirmed on Saturday, when the Demons effected an 80-point turnaround from their round two loss to Mordialloc.
Coach Steve Hughes rated that game as the worst he had presided over in his tenure at the club, so he was delighted by the result on Saturday.
“We’ve underachieved over the last couple of weeks, so it was time to actually get a couple of wins on the board,” Hughes said.
“We were really focused on beating a team that nobody expected us to beat, and we did that on Saturday.”
Williams’ bag of seven was the eye-catching individual performance, but Hughes was equally pleased with the return of the versatile Brad Heuvel.
Heuvel played on Bloods’ full-forward Luke Kirkland, who kicked 17 the previous weekend against Highett, and kept him to four goals.
After being challenged by their coach before the match, midfield brothers Nigel and Brad Scott responded brilliantly, while on-ballers Dean Kovacic and Brendan Ashman were also prominent.
Having led by 21 points at the final break, the Demons dug in bravely against a Mordy assault in the last term. The result saw Springvale Districts improve to 3-8 for the season.
Meanwhile, the Doveton Eagles did the unthinkable in dealing ladder-leader Mount Waverley their first home loss of the season.
The Eagles triumphed by four points in a seesawing encounter, with less than a goal separating the sides at every break.
Stunningly, it was 16-year-old first-gamer Darren Ramsdale – the younger brother of full-forward Ricky – who provided the headline performance for the visitors.
The younger Ramsdale, who has played most of the season in the under 16s at Langwarrin, booted four goals in a roaming forward role to earn best-on-ground honours in his debut.
“The kid can play,” Doveton coach Barry Giddens declared after the match. “He’s got silky skills and it was a great introduction to senior footy.”
His brother kicked four of his own, while Matt Fristad was able to keep Mount Waverley gun Cameron Kirkup goalless at the other end.
In the middle, fringe player Will Bentley combined well with established stars Bret Hidgcock and Troy Humphries, staking his claim for a regular senior gig.
According to Giddens, the performance came as no surprise to Eagles insiders.
“We honestly believed we could beat them, and I think that’s half the battle,” he said.
Elsewhere in Division Three, the Dandenong Demons were beaten in every stanza on the way to a 48-point loss at Cerberus, and the Sandown Cobras suffered the same fate in a 110-point shellacking at the hands of South Yarra.
In Division Two, Lyndale thudded back to earth – after their Glenn Archer-led triumph – in a 82-point loss to Oakleigh Districts, while Dingley maintained its unbeaten record in accounting for Ashwood by 12 goals.
