Sunbury Lions have placed themselves nicely heading into their first bye of the Ballarat Football League season.
The Lions have won their past four games and are fourth on the ladder with a 6-4 record, having only weeks ago been 2-4.
For Lions coach Ben Jordan, fourth seems about where the Lions should be.
He said his players had worked hard to get there.
On Saturday, the Lions had to work hard to clinch their fourth straight win.
Returning home after playing their four previous games in Ballarat, the Lions were made to fight all the way against North Ballarat City.
Only in the last 15 minutes were the Lions able to break City to win 11.8 (74)-6.14 (50).
Jordan said one of the biggest challenges for the Lions heading into the game was the mental preparation.
“I always thought mentally it would be a tough challenge for us – going up to Ballarat the last four weeks and coming back home against a side which really had nothing to lose,” he said.
“I thought they were really good all day. Our boys were a bit off – there’s no doubt about that – but we worked our way through it, which was good.
“To run the game out well and finish the game off is a positive, even if I thought we were a bit lucky to win by that sort of margin.”
The match-winning move for the Lions was shifting David Kovacevic up forward midway through the last quarter. Kovacevic, who had spent the day in the ruck and as the sweeper across half-back, kicked two goals and brought the ball to ground to set up a third goal in the last 15 minutes.
Jordan said they needed to try a different option up forward, with City shutting down Ben Said, who had kicked four goals.
“That’s the flexibility a guy like ‘Kova’ gives you,” Jordan said. “He has played a lot of the game on ball and he’s still fresh enough to play that role up forward.
“If he gets it one on one, he’s hard to beat. The two kicks for goal were beautiful kicks.”
Alec Goodson kicked four goals for the Lions, while midfielders Greg Hay and Tom Donoghue were again strong.
Defender Adam Short returned from injury for the Lions and got through the game in a bonus outcome.
Andrew Duahu hurt a calf in the third quarter and didn’t return to the field as a precautionary measure.
Jordan said the win would give some confidence to the side, which had been struggling to close out close games.
The Lions have a bye this week before taking on Melton South.
