Tara Murray
Keilor Park isn’t getting ahead of itself in the Essendon District Football League division 2 competition.
The Devils were sitting second on the ladder, percentage behind Oak Park, with one loss after nine rounds.
While they have become one of the teams to beat this season and the only team to beat Oak Park, Devils coach Paul Gucias said they know they can’t take things easy.
“We’re pretty happy,” he said. “We still consider ourselves the chasers and not being hunted considering from how far back we’ve come the last few years.
“Every game is a challenge. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. No game is easy and I’ve told them teams will be coming at us with a different intent.
“Nothing is different for us.”
Gucias said while they were happy with how things were tracking, they were still learning every week.
He highlighted their most recent game against Coburg Districts as one match they will take plenty of.
The Devils won by just two points, the second game they won by less than two points.
“In close games we’re getting over the line,” he said.
“We keep reassessing where we are at after every game. Coburg Districts was totally different to last time we played them.
“We got over the line, but we will look at what we need to do. We need to make the most of our opportunities.
“On Saturday, we had a really good start and kicked a lot of points and gave them an opportunity.”
Gucias said the composure they showed late in the game, including controlling the game in the final minutes of the game, showed what they were doing at training was working.
As well as getting the results on field, the Devils have no long term injuries and nearly a full list to choose from.
Former AFL-listed player Damien Cavka has missed the last couple of games, but is set to return in the near future.
Guicas knows that the luck with injuries can quickly change and could change things pretty quickly.
The Devils face the bottom three teams in the next three rounds, starting with Northern Saints who they beat on Saturday.
Guicas said they won’t be taking their foot off the pedal despite where their opposition sits on the ladder.
“We played Northern Saints and Jacana and then have week off before Taylors Lakes at lakes,” he said.
“If we can win the next two games against Northern Saints and Jacana, the ladder speaks for itself and we’ll be clear on wins [from third]. The next three weeks are super important for us.”
Overall, things are looking bright for the Devils whole senior program.
The reserves sit on top of the ladder, while their thirds are sitting fourth.
