Tara Murray
Rupertswood has a habit of knocking off the top sides and it did it again on Saturday against Deer Park in the Essendon District Football League division 1.
The Sharks were able to hold their nerve in the last quarter as the Lions came late to hold on to win, 13.5 (83)-12.10 (82).
Sharks coach Arron Bray said he was really happy with that performance.
“We are always up for the big matches,” he said. “We played for quarters of football and that is a positive for us.
“We knew we were around the mark, we just needed to put four quarters together and we were able to do that.
“We played really well and stuck to the structures.”
Bray said they made a few moves that worked, which the Lions didn’t pick up quickly enough.
He said it was a really good contest and that their work as a team was a key to getting the win.
“We didn’t get outworked at the contest,” he said. “They have some good players on every line, but I think we’re underrated as we have some players on every line as well.”
Bray said the Lions had the chance to steal the match at the end, the side was able to hold strong.
He said many of the missed goal kicking opportunities for the Lions hadn’t been at easy angles and higher up the ground.
Zac Saad kicked three goals for the Sharks along with Fraser Phelan-Smith.
Bray said Jackson Cardillo, Dylan Podolczak, Brent Swallow and Ben Borg had really good performances.
He also highlighted the work of Daniel Kavanagh, who has come into the side the last two weeks,
“He won the reserves best and fairest a couple of years ago,” he said.
“We brought him up for his leadership around the ground. He has a really good defensive side and he sets up defensively without needing that direction.”
The win had the Sharks in fifth spot, but they only percentage behind Deer Park and Roxburgh Park.
Bray said they had set themselves to get a scalp to move back into the top bracket.
“We lost to Keilor Park after leading by 30 points, so we needed to get a scalp and we set ourselves for this one,” he said.
“Playing at Rupo more of a chance, so being at Deer Park having not seen the ground and didn’t know the opponent, it was like an eight point game.”
The Sharks this week face St Albans, which had its game against Hillside called off at three quarter time.
The match is under investigation following a scuffle involving players and spectators.
In division 2, the Sunbury Kangaroos and East Sunbury both remain without win.
The Kangaroos lost to Taylor Lakes, 16.6 (102)-12.7 (79), while the Thunder lost to Burnside Heights, 15.19 (109)-3.2 (20).
The two Sunbury teams face each other this Saturday.
