Tara Murray
North Footscray is showing positive signs in the first part of the Western Football League division 2 competition.
The Devils knew it was going to be a bit of a tough start to the season, after a number of changes in the off season.
Coach David Battistella said the season had panned out how they would have thought so far.
“It’s been up and down,” he said. “We lost a fair few players, about 50 per cent of the senior side that left for different reasons.
“That’s a far turnover with a lot of new players in the football club. It will take us a while to adapt.
“We have a lot of younger players into the club. It’s good for the future.”
Battistella said they decided to try and bring in younger players to help set up a core group for a number of years, with the club not having juniors.
He said they had looked to attract younger players from division 1 clubs who weren’t playing senior football.
They also added four former players back into the side.
On field, Battistella said he felt like they had been competitive for the most part.
“We’ve had one blow out against Sunshine, but Sunshine and Albion are doing that to most clubs,” he said.
“We’ve been very competitive against Newport and Wyndhamvale for long periods. Their quality and depth had been a lot better and it ended up being eight-nine goals.
“There’s been a number of teams in our range which we’ve competed well with.”
Battistella said they were hoping to build enough throughout the season to continue to be in the mix for that fifth finals spot.
On Saturday, North Footscray faced Newport.
The Devils led at quarter time before the Panthers kicked ahead to lead by 20 points at half time.
The game was over at three quarter time, but the Devils finished well to restrict the final result to 19.14 (128)-11.7 (73).
Battistella said they stuck with the Panthers for stages.
“We couldn’t halt momentum at times and they would kick three goals and they did in twice so that’s a six goal margin,” he said.
“The boys fought it out in the last quarter and it was fairly even.”
Battistella said they know they still have improvement in the group and admits that injuries haven’t helped either.
The Devils sit ninth on the ladder, while Newport remains in fourth spot.
This week the Devils face the Western Rams before a break which Battistella says comes at the right time.
“We will get two or three players after the break,” he said. “We don’t take anything for granted and would like to get another win before the break.
“We’ll then reassess and re-energise for the second half of the year.”
In other results, West Footscray beat Sunshine Heights, Braybrook snuck home against the Suns and Laverton lost to Sunshine.
In division 1, Spotswood got a win, while Yarraville Seddon beat Altona by a point and Parkside lost a close one to Hoppers Crossing.
