Rupertswood has rebounded from a poor two weeks to take home the points in the Sunbury derby in the Riddell District Football League on Saturday.
After a less than convincing win against Riddell and a disappointing loss against Romsey, the pressure was on the Sharks to respond against the Sunbury Kangaroos.
Both sides had periods of dominance and the lead changed in every quarter.
When the Kangaroos hit the front early in the fourth quarter, it looked like they would storm home. The Sharks responded, regained control and lead until the final siren for a 18.11 (119)-15.7 (97) victory.
Sharks coach Kevin Fitzgerald was thrilled to get the win against a side he rates highly.
“I thought we were good today,” he said. “I thought we responded well. We got challenged and got behind a few times, and once again we nearly kicked ourselves out of it with poor kicking, but I thought we had control. We had the resolve to keep going.
“We were really pleased as we had quite a few missing today … there’s blokes who came in and did their jobs, which is all we can ask for.”
Fitzgerald said the key to getting back into the game after a slow start was obtaining more of the ball in the middle of the ground.
“We thought we were beaten in the midfield through the first quarter,” he said.
“I thought our midfield responded really well to what we asked at quarter-time and after that we were really good.”
The midfield dominance made life easier for the forwards who got more opportunities.
Sean Hetherington kicked five goals for the Sharks in a best-on-ground performance, while five other players kicked multiple goals. Bryce Caldone and Jayden Swallow both played their first senior game for the Sharks; Keegan Guy made his senior debut the previous week.
Ryan Pretty kicked five goals for the Kangaroos.
The Sharks are third with a 5-2 record heading into the Queen’s Birthday weekend bye.
Fitzgerald said they were hoping to get a few of their injured players back for their next match, against Melton Centrals.
“Joel West should definitely be available and Luke Cannon should be as well,” he said.
“Our aim was to start better than last season. We think to win you need to be in the top three and all along we’ve aimed to be in that position.
“It’s nice to keep racking up the wins.”
Woodend-Hesket smashed Broadford by 186 points, Wallan defeated Melton Centrals, Riddell was too good for Rockbank, Diggers Rest did it with ease against Lancefield and Macedon kept its undefeated record in tact against Romsey.
