Sunbury produces offensive fireworks to deliver big win over Lake Wendouree

Sunbury showcased its attacking firepower with a big win over Lake Wendouree, taking out two weeks of frustration in the wooden spoon battle.

Sunbury coach Travis Hodgson said his players ‘let their hair down’ on Saturday.

The Lions took out two weeks of frustration on Lake Wendouree at Brown Reserve, piling on 22 goals to win by 64 points.

Heart-breaking losses to East Point and Ballarat in the past fortnight fuelled the attacking display.

The 22.11 (143) to 12.7 (79) final score was a clear BFL season best for a club that had averaged 61 points a game previously.

A total of 10 Lions got their names on the scoreboard, led by Jake Sutton’s five majors, while Leigh Brennan added four and Harry Minton-Connell had a field day off half-back with 33 disposals.

Haydn Ross in action for Sunbury. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Hodgson was pleased for his players to get some reward.

“They jumped us, they kicked the first three but we kicked seven of the next eight and had control from there,” he said.

“Once we got to the point where the burden was off, the pressure we’ve carried in those close losses, the boys let their hair down a bit and that why the margin blew out a fair bit.

“It’s been fun, we’ve got a good environment – the win-loss is the part we don’t like but we’ve tried our best.

“The Ballarat one last week, I think we were 11 points up with a couple of minutes left and got beaten on the siren and East beat us by 10 points but they kicked one after the siren and scores were even with a couple of minutes left.

“Since the Bacchus Marsh game, which was really disappointing, we’ve played three weeks of really good footy and could so easily have been three-from-three.”

An eight-goal opening term set the scene for Sunbury, taking a 35-point lead into half-time.

Both teams nearly doubled their scores in the second half as the flood gates opened but the Lions added 11 goals to six to run out big winners.

Sunbury skipper Daniel Tomas cops a low blow against Melton. Picture: Andy Brownbill

The result moves Sunbury a game clear of the Lakers in the wooden spoon battle.

Minton-Connell was prolific after being shifted to half-back, providing plenty of attacking rebound alongside intercept-marking Team of the Year gun Tyson Lever (29 touches).

Daniel Toman racked up 39 possessions in midfield but Hodgson was most pleased with youngster Riley Miller.

“Riley was outstanding, his big point of difference is his speed and pressure,” he said.

“He had plenty of ball but he’s also had eight tackles, his pressure was huge for us.”

Darley visits Clarke Oval on Saturday with Sunbury determined to over turn a four-point loss earlier in the season.

The Devils sit sixth on percentage with four teams locked on six wins and just four points separating third from seventh.

EDFL: VFL FORWARD’S STUNNING RETURN FOR HEIGHTS

LEADER: GET YOUR BALLARAT FOOTY NEWS HERE

WINS: THE REMAINING UNDEFEATED LOCAL FOOTY CLUBS

While finals are out of the question this season, Hodgson is keen to get some momentum heading into 2023.

“Finals looks beyond us but we feel like we’ve built some momentum, our last three weeks have been really good,” he said.

“We can build on that and have a good finish to the season, win some games of footy, and take that into next year.”

In other results, Melton (101) was a class above Bacchus Marsh (35), East Point (68) edged Ballarat (61), Darley (82) was too good for Melton South (56) and Sebastopol (87) trumped Redan (35).