EFNL 2021: Mitch Davis stars with seven in Montrose defeat of Bayswater

A seven-goal haul from Mitch Davis has helped launch his club to an opening round win over 2019 finalist Bayswater on Saturday.

Mitch Davis enjoyed a day out in Montrose’s season opener. Picture: Montrose FNC

A seven-goal haul from Montrose’s Mitch Davis has helped launch his club to a 28-point win over 2019 finalist Bayswater on Saturday.

In the Demons’ first outing in the Eastern league’s second tier since suffering relegation from the top division at the end of 2019, a second quarter challenge from the ‘Waters was quashed after half-time as Montrose kicked away to the 11.11 (77) to 7.7 (49) victory.

Montrose coach Peter Bastinac said Davis’ starring role was the result of a promising build-up to the season, while he was ably supported by Shaun McMillan in attack with two majors.

“He (Davis) just led from the front as far as pre-season goes,” Bastinac said.

“He’s just a real professional footballer at local level – he’s had another outstanding pre-season and that was just reward for effort – it’s not a fluke – the harder you work, the luckier you get.

“His hands didn’t let him down yesterday and neither did his kicking and he’s a beautiful kick at goal.”

Montrose coach Peter Bastinac. Picture: Stuart Milligan

The Demons raced out of the blocks early, holding Bayswater goalless in the first term to lead by 28 at the first break, before the visitors hit back in the second to draw within three at half-time, kicking 4.2 to 0.1 for the term.

But a five-goal-to-one blitz in the third helped the Demons to a 28-point advantage at the final change.

Bastinac said while the windy conditions played a part in proceedings, Bayswater capitalised on the hosts’ errors in the second.

“At half-time I think the boys realised that we let them off the hook a little bit and we sort of gave the ball back to them probably too many times and didn’t play the way we wanted to, and Bayswater made us pay,” he said.

“The game ended up being a different one each quarter, and we’re not used to that sort of wind at Montrose, that’s for sure – it was just getting stronger and stronger as the day went.

“But they’ve (Bayswater) certainly given us something to work on – they’re a good team.”

Three under-19 products were on show for the Demons, with Eastern Ranges listed pair Hugh Bassett and Brad Watson named in the best, while Taj Heap also made his mark.

“The bulk of our list has hung around so we’re really grateful for that and we’ve finally got some youth coming through – we played three under-19 boys yesterday who handled themselves really well and you can just see, they’re just going to get better and better,” Bastinac said.

Bastinac said fellow young gun Beau Tennant stood out in the second half and has reaped the rewards of a VFL pre-season.

“His second half he really stood out, he had some good aerial time taking some good marks around the ground, and he’s benefitting from a pre-season with Box Hill,” he said.

For Bayswater, Aaron Cotte finished with three majors as 2019 comp best and fairest Kurt Lopo featured among the best.

While it had been a lean past two campaigns for Montrose in the league’s Premier Division, with the club winning just six matches of its past 36, Bastinac said Saturday’s win would provide a much-needed morale boost for his side.

“It’s a great start to the season for us to be able to play at home Round 1 and have a win,” he said.