EFNL Division 1 2024: Wantirna South upsets Bayswater to snap 11-game losing streak
Winless through its opening 11 matches, Wantirna South broke through in an Eastern Division 1 upset to toast its first victory under club great Jason Heffernan on Saturday.
Eastern
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The drought is over.
Wantirna South broke through for its first victory of the Eastern league Division 1 season on Saturday, upsetting Bayswater 14.4 (88) to 7.6 (48).
Led by senior coach Jason Heffernan in his maiden campaign in charge, the Devils weathered a winless opening 11 matches.
Heffernan said emotions spilt over as the siren rang out over a wet and wintry Walker Reserve.
“There were tears,” he said.
“But as a coach, it’s probably a bit more relief and happiness for the players because you know how hard they work.
“Whether you’re top of the table or on the bottom like we are, they work as hard as each other.”
Spearheaded by three goals apiece to Liam Hewett and Marcus Jordan, Wantirna South led at all changes – including by 44 points at the main break after holding the visitors goalless in the first half.
Baysie cut the deficit to just 12 points at three-quarter time – but Heffernan’s men weren’t to be denied, finishing with five majors to none in the final term.
“It just goes to show how things can change quick, and that had probably been the story of our year – teams would put four or five (goals) on us and the game would be lost,” Heffernan said.
“But a good start helped us absorb it – to the players’ credit, having not won, it could have been something where they say, ‘Here we go again’, but we just adjusted back to what we had done previous.
“I said to the boys at three-quarter time that we very rarely play a game where a team doesn’t have their moment, and just make sure that’s their (Bayswater’s) moment.
“That first half, we played the brand of footy that we had been chasing all year.”
The result consigns Bayswater to a seventh loss in eight rounds, sitting seventh with a 4-8 record.
Devils captain Jake Denes starred in a best-afield showing – but he wasn’t the only standout.
“He ended up playing 90 per cent game time in the ruck,” Heffernan said.
“‘Sal’ (Salele Feagaimalii) through the midfield – he’s been on a good month or so and he was probably our standout in the mids.”
David Lang, Lachlan Howard, Luke Grima and Jordan also featured in the best.
Heffernan, a two-time Devils best and fairest and captain of the club’s 2002 premiership side, returned to Walker Reserve at the end of last year.
Fresh off a coaching stint in the Southern league, he took St Paul’s McKinnon to a Division 1 flag in 2018 after a handful of VFL stops. He said his Wantirna South homecoming had been “a massive learning curve” after a 0-11 start.
“I never faced this as a player, let alone as a coach, so I didn’t really have anything to draw on other than, this is the situation, let’s see how you handle it,” he said.
“I’ve gone into who I am, and the glass is always half-full.
“It opens your eyes to the other side of coaching.”
Wantirna South 4.2, 7.4, 9.4, 14.4 (88)
Bayswater 0.1, 0.2, 7.4, 7.6 (48)
Best players
Wantirna South: Jake Denes, David Lang, Salele Feagaimalii, Lachlan Howard, Luke Grima, Marcus Jordan
Bayswater: Ben White, Matthew Higgins, Bryce Galvin, Christian Poe, Timothy Castricum, Paul Haasbroek
Goals
Wantirna South: Liam Hewett, Marcus Jordan (3), Jesse Warner (2), Quinn Clark, Mark Denes, Salele Feagaimalii, Brook Kainey, David Lang, Jarryd Smith
Bayswater: not provided
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