Tara Murray
The Sunbury Lions are content with where they sit in the Essendon District Football League women’s division 2 competition.
The Lions sit top after eight rounds with just one loss.
Coach Matt Tremellen said while they were happy they know things won’t get any easier.
“We knew what we were doing and we know what we are doing is stocking up against everybody else,” he said.
“We’re very focused on what we are doing each week and see how it goes.”
Tremellen said it’s a very close competition with one or two players missing sometimes making a difference.
The Lions have been hit hard by injuries in recent weeks. Skipper Laura Giles has been ruled out for the season after tearing her ACL, while it’s unknown when Bianca Pepper will return.
Tremellen said the rest of the injured players should return over the next few weeks.
He said they’d had a number of players stepped up in the absence of two of their leaders.
“It’s a big hole to fill,” he said. “The leadership is still there off field and they’re still filling their roles just not on the ground.
“Other leaders like Emily Taylor and Kirsty Baker have stepped up and been huge.”
Tremellen said the hard work they had done last season and in the off season had all started to pay off.
He said they were able to upskill some of the less experienced players to get a better balance in the side.
Tremellen said they have kept their focus pretty simple despite the strong start to the season.
“We take every week as it comes,” he said. “We’ll continue to play our brand of footy throughout the rest of the season.
“We want to go as far as we can, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are where we want to be and we want to keep building and focus on what we can do.”
On Saturday, the Lions were able to put together a strong four quarter performance to beat Glenroy, 9.12 (66)-1.2 (8).
Amy Glendenning kicked three goals while Jorja McKenna and Nikki Waldron kicked two goals each.
Audrey Follett and Taylor Brady were named their best.
The Lions sit a game clear of the Sunbury Kangaroos, who have played more game.
The Kangaroos won a thriller against Taylors Lakes on Saturday.
The Kangaroos claimed the win, 6.8 (44)-6.4 (40).
Nat Dunne and Bronte Koutras kicked two goals each. Teaghan Tweedly was named the Kangaroos best.
East Sunbury suffered a 12.15 (87)-0.1 (1) loss to Coburg Districts.
