Sport
11 July, 2026
Demons match leaders in fourth quarter
CALIVIL has been like a racehorse stuck in the starting gates this season, looking on with bewilderment as opponents race out to a big lead.
CALIVIL has been like a racehorse stuck in the starting gates this season, looking on with bewilderment as opponents race out to a big lead.
Against Marong last Saturday, the Demons gave up a 44-point lead at quarter time and by the time they got going in the second half, the Panthers had well and truly bolted.
Calivil kicked 6.1 to 6.3 in the final term, but it was too little, too late – an all too frequent refrain in 2026.
Coach Sam Maher lamented a first quarter that he said was the team’s worst for the season.
“The boys were up and about before the game, but we just didn’t turn up to play in that first quarter. For 10 minutes the midfield was very poor, then for 10 minutes the forward line was very poor, and then for 10 minutes the defence was very poor.”
Maher was particularly frustrated given that the team’s starts had been better in recent weeks, although that had not necessarily been reflected on the scoreboard. Marong’s forward line has functioned well this season, with Cooper Hale stepping up from the reserves to kick 34 goals in 11 games.
He won the league’s best and fairest award in the twos last year and has emerged this year as the long-term successor to retired club legend Kane Robins.
Hale kicked five against the Demons, and fellow forward Ryley Taylor booted four as the Panthers racked up 23 goals for the day. They were trumped, however, by Calivil full-forward Henry McCarthy, whose six goals took him to 24 from seven games, highlighting how much the Demons missed him when he was injured.
Maher, who missed the Marong game with a torn bicep, said McCarthy’s record would be even better if he had received better delivery from the team’s midfielders. He rated McCarthy among the best forwards in the league.
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After-the-siren: JBK the hero
PYRAMID Hill was behind at quarter-time, behind at the main break, behind at three-quarter time and behind when the final siren rang, but the Bulldogs still took the four points against Maiden Gully.
It might sound like the basis for a riddle, but coach Jarrod Fitzpatrick was happy to take the win, courtesy of an after-the-siren goal from Jhye Baddeley-Kelly.
The result could have significant consequences for both teams’ seasons.
Victory kept the Bulldogs level on points with Bridgewater, with both sides a game behind Marong, while a win for the Eagles would have had them sitting sixth, out of the top five only on percentage. “It was a bit close for comfort,” Fitzpatrick said.
“We didn’t deserve to win it in the end, but it was still a great win to be part of.”
While trailing all day, Pyramid Hill was never out of the contest, and a contentious free kick to Baddeley-Kelly seconds before the siren sounded proved decisive. Fitzpatrick credited his team’s pressure on Maiden Gully’s ball carriers for its ability to stay in the contest.
The Bulldogs have some injury worries out of the match, with big men Cam Ross and Will Quinlivan in doubt to play Marong.
However, star onballer Isaac Brill will return after four weeks in Europe on holiday, which will add significantly to the team’s midfield strength.
Mitch Hill, Tye Bedford and Dan Russell have been Maiden Gully’s best performers this season, and they were again prominent against Pyramid Hill at a boggy Marist College ground.
Bedford kicked three goals, as did co-coach Angus Monfries, who is now up to 17 goals for the year, equal with Hill as the Eagles’ top scorer.
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