Sunbury Lions have made it two from two with a hard-fought win against Melton South in the Ballarat Football League.
The Lions had to find another gear in the second half to get on top of the Panthers for the 13.9 (87)-9.16 (70) win.
After an even first quarter, the Panthers dominated the second quarter.
Lions coach Ben Jordan said they were lucky to be within 10 points at the main break as the Panthers had 10 more scoring shots.
“I think we struggled a bit before half-time, not getting enough of our hands on the footy,” he said.
“We were beaten out of the centre and stoppages especially and we weren’t clean when we did win it.
“They don’t have that tall target that they usually have when Fev [Brendan Fevola] is playing, so they were trying to invent their goals from the medium players.
“I think they had a lot of shots especially in the second quarter and I thought they dominated the second quarter full stop.
“We counter attacked a couple of times and scored goals, which was handy, and were still in the game 10 points down at half-time.”
Jordan was happy with how his side responded after being challenged.
“Probably the second half was the real pleasing thing,” he said.
“We took that opportunity with the door still open and the guys lifted their work rate in the second half.
“We did tidy up our act in the second half, and I thought we just got in there a little bit harder and started to win the footy.
“Once we got it out, we looked pretty good.”
The game went down to the dying minutes, as the Panthers came to within a goal.
Grant Valles then stood strong in his best period of football this season, kicking 2.1 to seal the win.
Jordan said no one really stood out in the win, but he liked the games of Greg Hay, Aaron Christensen, Mick Edwards, Andrew Duhau and Brad Mundy.
The win gives the Lions a 2-0 start.
Jordan said building a solid foundation was important as they didn’t know what would happen later in the season.
The Lions this week face reigning premier Darley, which is coming off a shock loss to Melton.
“They will be fired up and they won’t want to lose two games in a row.”
The Lions could have a surprise inclusion in the coming weeks, with former player Jack Landt putting in a clearance to return.
Jordan said it would be a wait and see game whether he is granted the clearance from Essendon Doutta Stars.
“He played some good footy with Doutta Stars last year and he’s as good a small forward as you tend to find going around.
“It would be great to have him back on board.”
