Tara Murray
Rupertswood came away with its best win in the Essendon District Football on Saturday, coming from behind to beat Roxburgh Park.
In their second season in the division 1 competition, the Sharks have still been finding their feet in the competition.
For much of the match against the Magpies, it seemed like the Sharks were headed for a loss on Saturday.
The Sharks kept pegging the Magpies back and hit the front in the dying minutes, winning 14.10 (94)-13.9 (87).
Sharks coach Arron Bray said it was pleasing how the group never gave up.
“It’s not a bad win to come from behind,” he said.
“They started really well and had five goals or something on the board. They played really well and hunted the ball and we struggled to track them.
“We put in a really good pre-season and thought we could get back into the game and started to grind our way.”
For Bray this match is one that he’s hoping will give the side plenty of confidence going forward.
The club has had a bit of a habit of being in matches, but not being able to finish them off.
“I think it’s been a bit of a trait of being in games for a long period of time, but we haven’t been able to get over the line.
“When you’re 30 points down it’s pretty easy to keel over and say that was good enough.
“Hopefully it will put some belief in the group that we do belong in this competition.”
It was a day of firsts for the club in the EDFL.
The club won their first home senior match in the competition, while it’s the first time all three senior sides have won on the same day in the EDFL.
Ben Said kicked five goals despite a hard tag put on him, which saw him play higher up the ground at times.
Jacob Chahine kicked four goals in a breakout game at senior level.
Bray said Jorden Brady got the better of Jack Elliott in the ruck battle, while Jordie Tentonello had a good game.
Overall, Bray said it was a really strong team performance, which was what they were after.
The Sharks have the weekend off due to Easter, before facing cross town rival, the Sunbury Kangaroos.
The match was scheduled to be played at Boardman Reserve, but has been moved to Salesian College with the new rooms at Boardman not ready.
The Kangaroos didn’t play on the weekend, with the side to face Hillside in a Good Friday match up.
Bray said he was unsure whether having the week off was a good thing or not. He said they were looking forward to playing the Kangaroos.
The one match up between the sides last year was decided in the final minutes of the game.
“Even as an opposition coach, I was always interested in seeing how it panned out,” he said.
“We’re up for the challenge.”
In other division 1 matches, Airport West, Tullamarine and Airport West got the wins.
