COACH Shane Snibson says a win by Sebastopol over Ballarat Football League reigning premier Darley was a major step forward for the Burra and the competition.
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Sebastopol stunned the out-of-sorts Devils by 10 points on a muddy Marty Busch Reserve on Saturday.
The shock outcome could not have provided a bigger contrast to where the rivals stood last season, when Darley defeated the then wood spooner by 192 and 75 points on the way to a memorable grand final victory.
Snibson said it was an amazing day – to get a win over such fancied opposition.
“We’ve been down so long. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re starting to believe that we can match it with more fancied opposition, and that’s a major step forward for the competition and for us.”
He said for this win to come two weeks after Sebastopol failed to kick a goal in the opening three quarters against Sunbury showed the resilience of the team to keep believing and working hard at it.
“It’s just an amazing outcome.”
Snibson said Sebastopol had gone into the game believing it was a chance, knowing that the eastern bloc teams did not always play well in the wet in Ballarat.
“We delivered. There was nothing fancy.’
He said when his players became more confident they backed themselves in defensively and did not gift Darley goals as they had in the past through poor structure or mistakes.
With two wins – it has also defeated Melton South – Sebastopol is enjoying its most successful season since 2011 when it won three games and finished 10th. It beat Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Darley, which all finished in the bottom four in that season .
The Burra had one win in 2012, failed to win in 2013 and 2014, and had the one success last year.
While Sebastopol celebrated long and hard into Saturday evening, it was time for more soul searching for Darley.
The Devils’ premiership defence has gone anything but to plan, with them winning only three of their eight appearances.
Despite a highly disappointing first half to the season, Darley is still well in contention to play finals.
Eighth-placed Darley is just one game behind sixth-placed Melton, but has a tough run ahead with clashes against the seven teams above it in the remaining eight games.
East Point (seventh) is having an equally frustrating run.
Unbeaten Lake Wendouree gave the Kangaroos a football lesson at Wendouree on Saturday, with it winning by 81 points.
As much as showing how well the Lakers are travelling, the match also reinforced how far East Point is off the pace at the moment
However, like Darley, East Point is positioned well enough to turn around its fortunes and play finals.
The Kangaroos also have a hard road ahead with encounters with a hurting Darley, and premiership contenders Lake Wendouree (again), Bacchus Marsh and North Ballarat City.
