THE Horsham Demons have outclassed cross town Wimmera Football League rivals the Horsham Saints for a second derby in a row to get their season off on the right foot.
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The side looked in control for most of the match on its way to a 14.11 (95) to 7.11 (53) victory.
New Horsham Coach Louie Dalziel said he was confident as he watched his side prepare for the game.
“Before the game I just new they were switched on,” he said
“I had a good sense that if we were going to get beaten it was going to take a good performance.”
The Demons jumped out of the blocks early to kick the first few goals of the game and added another after the quarter time siren to lead 4.3 (27) to 1.3 (9).
Fluent ball movement allowed the side to continue to capitalise on opportunities even after the Saints kicked the first goal of the second quarter.
“A lot of our work in pre-season has been super hard physical running,” Dalziel said.
“Sometimes I thought that we might need to do a bit more ball work but the last month we really stepped up that super use of the footy.
“It looked clean from my perspective and our supporters have been saying that to.”
At half-time the Demons led by 37 points, but a third quarter lapse threatened the side as the Saints side upped its game.
Dalziel said he otherwise had felt in control of the game.
“There was ten or 15 minutes in that third quarter where I sensed it took us a little bit to get going after halftime,” he said.
“I would have hoped to jump out of the blocks again but that is something we might need to work on.”
The lead had closed to 24-points at three-quarter time but when the Demons kicked the first goal of the last quarter the slim hopes of Saints’ supporters faded.
Saints coach Luke Fisher said it was not exactly how he would have liked to start but saw plenty of positives to take out of the game.
“I was really pleased when the boys came off and were focused on the positives,” he said.
“Yes we went down, yes they were a good side and got the jump on us, but there was lots of positive things for us.
“We are really young and we are only going to get better. Every game and training we are together we build and build and build.”
He singled out his side’s ball movement as something that will need to improve.
“We set out to run the ball and carry the ball because we did not want to bomb it down the line,” he said.
“If we work out a few things and get back to the way we want to play we will be better.”
In his first game for the club seventeen-year-old Brayden Helyar impressed his coach.
“He was incredible the way he read the ball while playing on experienced players,” Fisher said.
“He is going to be a player of the future.”
For the Demons it was a big game by ruckman Billy Carberry, wingman John Wood and running defender Tyler Blake.
“They are the three bloke that did things that I asked,” Dalziel said.
“We had other jobs for other players and they did them.
“It was a big spread but they set the standard.”
Despite a commanding performance the Demons still have areas of the game to improve.
Dalziel said he wants his side to get better in the middle of the ground and defensively in terms of structures.
“We set up pretty well but there was a couple of times when we could have reset and repelled the ball better,” he said.
“We have a bit of work to do; by no means are we perfect.
“After three or four games we will start to sort those things out.”
In the end Dalziel was just happy to start with a win.
“It’s always good to get off with a win,” he said.
“A ‘w’ next to our name after a big pre-season leaves us pretty happy.
“We think we have a good side on paper and it was good to put it out on the park tonight.”