Creswick's Mick Lockyer marks in front of Daylesford's Aiden Mill
WEEK in, week out someone will tell you just how even the Central Highlands Football League has become.
Creswick’s upset 12-point win over Daylesford is tangible proof of that popular belief.
Most of this year’s 17 rounds will throw up the odd surprise, a result that will leave you wondering where certain teams sit in the grand scheme of things.
Saturday’s clash at Doug Lindsay Reserve did just that.
Has Creswick improved that much from the team that managed just four wins in 2011? Are the Wickers a serious finals contender? Or did they just catch an undermanned Daylesford off-guard, a team physically fatigued from its gruelling win over Hepburn the week before?
One thing’s for sure, it’s a performance that has lifted the spirits of the long-suffering Creswick supporters and given them hope in 2012.
Second-year playing coach Damian Lubeek publicly declared his team’s finals ambitions during the pre-season, and the weekend’s performance has simply warranted it.
“It was huge. We were a bit disappointed letting the Beaufort game slip away (round three), and we’d worked on areas that we felt we needed to over the week,” Lubeek said.
“To be honest, going into this week we were confident, we knew we’d certainly done the work and it was just our ability to hold together mentally for four quarters.
“This is what we needed. After last weekend, the (playing group) realised Beaufort is a good side, and we had an opportunity where we could possibly have been 2-1 (win-loss). Right from the start, the guys took it up to each and every one of the Daylesford players, that pressure and relentlessness at the (ball) did not stop for the whole game. It was awesome.”
The Wickers are 2-2 from the opening four rounds of the season, and sit poised to pounce in 12th position on the ladder.
A couple of winnable matches await the red, white and black in the lead up to the interleague break, with a trip to meet the injury-plagued Gordon this weekend followed by a home clash with Dunnstown.
THREE players will contest charges at the tribunal after having their numbers taken during the weekend’s round of matches.
Illabarook’s Stephen Fry was reported for striking Rokewood-Corindhap’s Timothy Griffin, as was Newlyn’s Shaun Dridan against Bungaree’s Nick Lowry, while Daylesford’s Haydn Mobbs was cited for forceful front-on contact against Creswick’s Liam Hepworth.