North Footscray was in a state of shock after being unceremoniously dumped from the WRFL division 2 finals.
The Devils bowed out in dreaded straight sets after Saturday’s 70-point capitulation to Caroline Springs at Dempster Park.
Devils’ co-coach Matt Walsh vowed his team would stick together, but this is not the outcome he anticipated.
“We just didn’t fire a shot in the two weeks of the finals,” Walsh told Star Weekly. “We finished minor premiers, so I guess that’s what we set out to do at the start of the season.
“It’s just really disappointing to not be up to it in the two finals’ games.
“You look back at it and think it’s the one that got away.”
A cracking preliminary final was predicted, but it turned into a fizzer.
Kicking into the wind in the first quarter, a scoreless North Footscray trailed by 33 points at quarter-time, and there was no coming back from there.
Caroline Springs powered away to a comfortable win, set up by eight goals from Mathew Sutton.
“They’re a quality outfit; they ran us ragged, and their talls were fantastic,” Walsh said. “They certainly did their homework.”
Unlike Caroline Springs, with nearly a full list to choose from, North Footscray had key players missing at exactly the wrong time of the season.
Tyson Bock was out due to suspension, Lucas Hall is overseas and Max Rampling was successful in the latest intake to join the fire brigade,
“They’re three of our top six players who didn’t play in the finals,” Walsh said.
“It hurts, but it is what it is; you’ve got to front up with the 22 you’ve got available.
“We thought they were good enough, but it didn’t eventuate.”
Even with Bock, Hall and Rampling in the side, North Footscray was not winning this game. The Devils simply had too many players down.
Veteran defender David Clonan, who nullified Lakers’ forward Brian Lake, was the only consistent producer for the Devils over the two weeks.
“He was our best player in the finals by a country mile,” Walsh said.
“There were a lot of guys who were really down over the two weeks.”
Caroline Springs will face Yarraville-Seddon in the grand final at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
