North Footscray is on a roll in division 2 of the Western Region Football League but there is no chest-beating at Hansen Reserve.
The Devils will put a six-game winning streak on the line when they travel to league leaders Caroline Springs on Saturday, the only side to have toppled them in seven starts.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” Devils co-coach Matt Walsh told Star Weekly. “It can easily turn the other way.
“We have to come with the same mindset and the same attitude we’ve had in the past two weeks and I’m sure things will look after themselves.”
North Footscray’s form has been irresistible.
The Devils backed up a 41-point win over premiership contender Yarraville-Seddon with a ridiculously easy 113-point win over finals contender Glen Orden at home at Hansen Reserve on Saturday.
It is not only the result and subsequent four premiership points that has pleased Walsh but his team’s no passengers approach.
“The last two weeks have been enormous for us,” Walsh said. “We’ve had 22 contributors and we’ve played the brand of footy we wanted.”
A feature of the win over Glen Orden was the ability to spread the load, with 11 goalkickers, including eight to Tyren Montebruno, five to Zak Atkins and four to Sam Kater.
It was the engineroom which decided the outcome of the game, with Kieran Murphy producing yet another superb performance and Max Rampling prominent.
“Our midfielders are really working well together,” Walsh said. “We have eight or nine blokes that run through there and it’s just about making sure we stick with our game plan and stick with our rotations.”
North Footscray and Caroline Springs have met once already this season, the Lakers coming out victors by seven points.
While much of the external focus will be on whether the Devils can stop Lakers stars Matthew Sutton and Brian Lake, the Devils themselves believe it will be no different to any other game in that the side with the most influential midfielders will likely win.
“The game is won and lost in the midfield,” Walsh said. “Both teams pride themselves on that and both teams have quality midfields.
“Whoever wins that battle will be able to give their forwards first use and give them every opportunity to win the game.”
In division 1, Spotswood bounced back from the shock loss to newly promoted Wyndhamvale with a 38-point away win over Sunshine Kangaroos.
In division 3, Newport Power has a share of top spot after a 71-point win over Laverton Magpies at Laverton Park.
