SUNSHINE made the race for the Western Region Football League division 1 title a little more interesting by handing Deer Park its first defeat of the season on Saturday.
The Lions sat two games clear atop the ladder heading into the game, having knocked off last year’s grand finalists Spotswood and Altona, with Sunshine three games back in fourth.
When the two teams met earlier in the year Deer Park set up the win with a dominant first half and a fast start, characteristics common to its success this year.
But in the return game it was the Kangaroos who got the hot start and continued on with the job. They led by 12 points at quarter time and opened up what would be a matchwinning lead over the next hour.
In the second and third terms Sunshine booted 10 goals while holding the Lions, so good in attack this year, to just three goals. By three-quarter time the lead was 57 points, and though Deer Park won the final term with three goals to one, the damage had long been done.
The Kangaroos were hammered by Spotswood and Altona in consecutive weeks in June, but have now pieced together three on the trot, giving them a good platform to launch into some strong form over the final six home-and-away games.
For Deer Park, it was the first blip in an otherwise dominant year. The Lions face Altona away this Saturday in a danger game that could potentially see them lose top spot.
Patrick Wiggins, Tom Millar and Cory Connor all kicked four for Sunshine; Kwame McHarg (also four) was the only multiple goalkicker for Deer Park.
A thrilled Kangaroos coach Brett Jacobs said hard work brought about the result. “There was no magic today, all credit has to go to the players who continue to work their butts off,” he said.
“When we played Deer Park earlier in the year we learnt a few things and we went in with a game style that we thought could be effective and for that to work the players had to buy into it.
“We didn’t have any bad players today; everyone contributed and with results like today the players start to believe.”
Click here for our picture gallery of the St Albans v Hoppers Crossing match.
