C-grade forward kicks 32 goals in a game but is awarded Hope Valley’s second-best-on-ground

He booted 32 goals in a 275-point win. But Darren Mitchell’s goalkicking heroics were only enough to earn him second-best-on-ground honours for his team.

Darren Mitchell, pictured in the colours of ex-club Bridgewater Callington, kicked 32 goals in Hope Valley’s 275-point C-grade win over Smithfield. Picture: Matt Turner.

He booted 32 goals in a 275-point win.

But Darren Mitchell’s goalkicking heroics were only enough to earn him second-best-on-ground honours for his team.

The forward racked up the stunning haul in Hope Valley’s division C5 Adelaide Football League annihilation of Smithfield on Saturday.

But his club record bag in the 42.23 to 0.0 thrashing were put into perspective by Demons coach Scott Dykstra, who instead awarded top votes to halfback Lachlan Anderson.

“I’ve been at Hope Valley for nearly 30 years now and I’ve never seen anyone do anything like it before,” Dykstra said.

“He (Mitchell) was unbelievable today.

“But for me as a coach, I’ve always been a big believer that the blokes upfield do all the hard work and the full forwards just get on the end of all that hard work.

“I’ve said to all my full forwards throughout my coaching career, ‘you’ll never get best (on ground), it doesn’t matter how many goals you kick’.

“You talk to him (Mitchell) and he doesn’t worry about that sort of stuff.

“He’s just enjoying playing his footy and wants to win another flag.”

Mitchell notched 13 majors in the opening term of the top-versus-bottom clash at Hope Valley Oval to raise hopes of setting a new league record.

But a four-goal second quarter and 11 behinds in a “tricky breeze” put the competition mark just out of reach, despite the sharpshooter bringing his season tally to 58 in five games.

“He definitely could’ve kicked a few more,” said Dykstra of Mitchell, who bagged 117 goals last year in the Demons’ march to the C-grade premiership.

“Most of his points were down one end where he was kicking into the wind, so that cost him a bit.

“We’ve got second and third on the ladder coming up in the next two weeks, so I said to the boys today ‘we need to play our brand of footy and not worry about the opposition so much’.

“I was really pleased with how we went about it and Smithfield, to their credit, we’re great all day and never chucked it in or went (for) the punch.”

Former A-grade player Mitchell returned to the club last year after kicking 113 majors for Bridgewater Callington in the Hills Football League in 2016.

Hope Valley sits top of the C5 ladder with a 6-0 record.