Melton South ends its losing streak with a dominant display against Melton Centrals

Melton South’s 40-game losing streak is over. The Panthers ended their drought with a dominant performance against cross-town rival Melton Centrals.

Melton South belts out the song after the win.

The drought is over.

It’s been 40 matches, the better part of three years or 1029 days since Melton South sung the song.

The Panthers belted it out with gusto on Saturday when they thumped cross-town rival Melton Centrals by 44 points at Arnolds Creek Reserve.

It was the first Centrals-South Riddell District derby since 1996 before South moved to the Ballarat league for he next 28 years.

The Panthers led at every change, triumphant 14.18 (102) to 8.10 (58).

Coach Travis Hodgson said it wasn’t your average win.

“It was a long time coming and one we enjoyed,” Hodgson said.

“Centrals were very competitive but we missed a fair few easy shots, we had 14 more scoring shots – we would have taken a point but to have a convincing margin was good.

“The song hasn’t been belted out that loud too many times, there was a fair bit of emotion, the boys were saying John Kovalik played in all 40 of loses.

“You can say a win is a win, it’s four points, but that wasn’t your average win – it released a lot of pressure.”

Hodgson said a strong start helped settle the nerves with a drought-breaking win on the line.

South charged out to a 24-point lead at half-time and while Centrals narrowed the margin to 20 at three-quarter-time, the visitors found another gear in the last.

A five-goal fourth term capped a famous day in club history.

“We went into the game confident, it sounds strange given we haven’t won in a long time, but we did think we’d get our chance,” Hodgson said.

“Once we cleared the early nerves we looked the better side but Centrals to their credit didn’t go away.

“They were better than us on the inside, their contested stuff, and we had the advantage on the outside, the uncontested footy went our way.

“Once we got the ball back, we shifted and got it on our terms, they’ve got a lot of strong bodies but we covered the ground a bit better.”

Ex-AFL recruit Sam Darley was the standout performer, collecting more than 50 disposals in a best-on-ground display.

Skipper Broden Collins, Joel Hodgson, Alec Goodson (five goals), Matt Notman and Daniel Schwarzenberg were also among the best.

“Sam played onball and played 120 minutes,” Hodgson said.

“He had a big advantage, anyone has been to Darwin, the humidity is horrendous, and it was hot – it was 30 degrees (on Saturday) – and it impacted a lot of players.

“Sam is conditioned to that, he’s had it 52 times, and he really stood out when people started to get tired.”

For Centrals, Brad Layton was dominant in attack and finished with six majors.

Evan Donoghue, Jake Armistead and Hisham Kerbatieh also stood tall.

The first meeting between the two clubs in almost 30 years drew a strong crowd with the clubs to renew hostilities in Round 10 at Melton Reserve.

Hodgson said it was the beginning of a strong rivalry.

“There was a terrific crowd,” he said.

“What was pretty evident was, this is going to become a big rivalry game.

“It was all in good spirits and you could see that after the game, there’s a lot of connection between the two clubs and the players all know each other.”

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South will look to make it two wins in a row when they host fellow newcomer Gisborne Giants after the Easter break, while Centrals face the imposing task of reigning premier Riddell.

Elsewhere, the Bombers dismantled Wallan in a 44-point grand final rematch victory and Diggers Rest was too good for Romsey in a 38-point win.

Woodend-Hesket and Kyneton and Gisborne Giants and Macedon will clash on Good Friday in finish Round 2.