Darley claim four points at East Point with help from a favourite son

An AFL gun and Darley favourite son returned and coach Dan Jordan picked up his first win at his old stomping ground as the Devils beat East Point.

Andrew Azzopardi in action for Darley. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Darley came away from an always difficult trip to Eastern Oval with four points with a little bit of help from a favourite son.

The Devils claimed a comfortable 39-point over BFNL rival East Point on Saturday with Port Adelaide gun Zak Butters assisting coach Dan Jordan.

Butters played a starring role in Port Adelaide’s Friday night win over St Kilda and stayed in Victoria to watch his junior mates.

“(Port) had a nine-day break and he’s best mates with four or five of the boys, they came through together,” Jordan said.

“We ended up giving him a bit of a role with me and he had a bit of input, which he enjoyed I think.

Darley coach Dan Jordan. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters.

“He’s a quality young man and playing some good footy at Port, it shows the type of character he is to come up to Ballarat and catch up with a few mates.”

The 14.16 (100) to 9.7 (61) victory was also Jordan’s first at his old stomping ground and kept Darley perfect start to the season intact.

“It’s an oval and place I love dearly, I’ve got a lot of fond memories up there,” Jordan said.

“Jacko (Jackson Merrett) I get along well with, I coached him at Essendon and we’re good friends, so it’s good to see him take over.

“I think he’s got a good young group there, it will be a bit of a building process for them but they’re not far off it and they’ll have some good wins during the year.”

Darley started the game strongly, holding East Point to just one goal to take a 27-point lead into quarter-time.

It could very nearly have been game over if the Devils had have kicked accurately, instead booting 4.9.

Inaccuracy continued to plague the visitors as they kicked 8.12 to half-time, while the Roos booted five straight to keep the margin at 30 points.

Mitch Ward in action for Darley. Picture: Andy Brownbill

East threatened to stage a classic comeback, narrowing the margin to 13 points at the final change but Darley finally found its range in the final term, slotting four goals to finish strongly.

Jordan said his team was still a work in progress but improving every week and, importantly, getting wins in the process.

“We’re not quite playing the footy we think we can but there’s some good progression,” he said.

“There was an onus on getting into them early, we started really well but we failed to convert a little bit.

“They worked their way back into the game in the second half so it was good for our guys to adapt and adjust.”

Former captain Shane Page continued his outstanding start to the season with best-on-ground honours.

“Pagey has had a good start to the year, we gave him best in Round 1 and he was up there last week as well, he’s just a quality player,” Jordan said.

“Because we’ve got a bit more depth now we’ve been able to utilise him in a couple of different roles and he also hit the scoreboard with a couple of important goals when East were getting momentum.”

Skipper Brett Bewley (three goals), former Williamstown gun Billy Myers (four goals) and Dylon Bishop (two goals) were also influential.

MCDFNL: DECISION MADE ON COUNTRY CLUBS’ MERGER

LEADER: GET YOUR BALLARAT FOOTY NEWS HERE

LOCAL WRAP: BIG BAGS KICKED AS STREAKS END

For East Point, Liam Canny, captain Matthew Johnston and Liam Howard were best in defeat.

Darley has the bye in Round 4 before a trip to Clarke Oval to face Sunbury, while East Point tackles Ballarat at Alfredton Reserve.

Elsewhere, Melton edged Sebastopol by 17 points in the grand final rematch and Redan prevailed over Ballarat by 31.

North Ballarat was too strong for Bacchus Marsh, winning by 68 points, and Sunbury smashed Melton South by 132 points.