By ROY WARD
SPRINGVALE Districts coach Jack McTaggart has demanded greater contributions from his players following their loss to Oakleigh District at Princes Highway Reserve on Saturday.
District withstood the Demons in the last term when the visitors got within five points midway through the quarter before late goals to George Mason and David Velardo made sure of the result. Oakleigh won 9.8 (62) to 6.11 (47).
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McTaggart said he was disappointed with his side. “We are a team which needs every player to give us a good performance and we didn’t get that today,” he said.
“We need consistent contributions from all players and what we got from our lower tier players wasn’t good enough. The difference between our best players and the rest of the side has to be closer together. The gap was too big today.”
The Demons’ best were Matt Thompson, Gavin Vassallo, Danny Wilson and Jordan Wachter.
It was a windy, scrappy game in which both sides failed to use the ball well.
District playing coach Scott Chalwell was happy his side found a way to win.
“We try to build a consistent effort across the whole game,” he said. “To the boys’ credit in both our matches the opposition has come at us in the last term and we have responded, which is a good sign.”
In division 1, Dingley made light work of struggling Heatherton with a 117-point win over the Tonners.
Phil Ball kicked eight goals for the Dingoes and was named best player along with Jackson Peet, Tony Lavars, Luke Walmsley, James Ball and Matthew Morwood.
In division 3, Lyndale caused a shock with a 16-point win over Sandown.
Dandenong and Doveton Eagles recorded comfortable wins over Black Rock and Endeavour Hills respectively.
