By Colin MacGillivray
LANCEFIELD football supporters were jubilant on Saturday after the Tigers chalked up one of their most important wins of recent years, defeating Melton Centrals by 10 points.
Lancefield has endured several lean years in the past decade, registering no more than three wins in a Riddell District Football Netball League season since 2016.



In that period the Tigers had beaten only one team apart from Broadford, which departed for the Outer East football competition in 2020, and the Western Rams, formerly known as Rockbank, who have won only one senior match in the past five years. That opponent was Melton Centrals in 2021.
Lancefield coach Tim Bannan said Saturday’s come-from-behind 6.9 (45) to 5.5 (35) victory was important for the self-belief of his side.
“I think it was [as important a win as Lancefield has had in a few years],” he said.
“It was a bit of a relief. They’ve worked pretty hard in the first couple of rounds, so to get a win was fantastic and full credit to them.
“We didn’t kick straight, so we could even have won by a little bit more.”
The contest was scrappy in the first quarter, with Lancefield registering three behinds to the Blues’ two, but Melton Centrals gained the ascendancy in the second term to lead by 11 points at the long break.
“The guys knew that if they played our style of footy that we’d get them in the end.”
– TIGERS COACH TIM BANNAN
Bannan said the Tigers made a concerted effort to play to their strengths in the second half, taking the game away from Melton Centrals.
“We started playing their style of footy at the start. They’re a really good stoppage team and they like the contested footy,” he said.
“We changed our structures a little bit and started getting the footy on the outside and started running. That’s what got us back into the game.
“We were able to play a quick brand of footy, and to our boys’ credit they stuck to it and it got us home in the end.”
Bannan admitted there were ‘a few nerves’ as his side clung to a narrow lead in the last quarter, but praised his charges for their composure.
“The guys knew that if they played our style of footy that we’d get them in the end,” he said.
“It was still pretty tight at three-quarter time, but with three or four minutes to go I thought we had fair control of the game. The boys slowed it up a bit and we controlled the footy and looked after it, which was great.”
Ruckman and former playing coach Tom Waters, who ceded the reins to Bannan this season, was best on ground, taking important intercept marks in defence.
Waters aided the likes of Darren Robinson, Jack Dalgleish and centre half back Lukas Fellows, who restricted Melton Centrals key forward Dylan Jobson to only two goals.
Wingman Michael Conlan was outstanding in the second half, adding run and drive for Lancefield.

Bannan said the win was validation of a team-building effort Lancefield undertook for its 150th anniversary celebrations this season.
“We’ve added some good quality people to the list. We haven’t recruited a huge amount, but the guys we’ve got in are ones we think will be able to help the young ones through,” he said.
“We brought in a couple of older heads and Riley O’Meara has come back to the club after a stint in the Essendon [District Football League], which has helped him. He has become a really good focal point in our midfield.
“Zach Webb has been phenomenal with the younger guys. He sacrifices himself a little bit at training and sometimes on game day as well to help out the younger kids.”


The only sour note for Lancefield was the loss of midfielder Anthony Pacers, who broke his finger during the contest and is expected to miss between four and six weeks following surgery on Sunday.
Bannan said his team was now focused on its next opportunity for a win against Macedon, in a game set to be played under lights at Lancefield Park at 6pm on Saturday.
The Cats, who played finals last year, are winless in three games this season.
“We know how good they are. We’re going to have to play our best footy to knock them off,” Bannan said.
“They haven’t had a win yet, so they’ll be chasing a win as well.
“There’s still a hell of a long way to go. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ll take it one week at a time and keep trying to get better as a group, and better as a coaching group as well.”
Romsey
Romsey completed a stellar weekend of local football by downing reigning premier Riddell 10.5 (65) to 6.6 (42) in front of a home crowd.
Only a point separated the Redbacks from the Bombers at quarter time, but five goals to one in the second term gave the home side a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the afternoon.
Recruit Ali Kahlil played his best game in a Romsey jumper, attacking off the half-back line, while Darcy Lockens booted four goals in a match-turning performance.
Also prominent were Aaron Paterson, Kand Brinkhuis, Mitch Adamson and Corey Pertzel.
The win vaulted the Redbacks above Riddell into fourth place on the ladder.
Romsey will have a chance to consolidate its position this weekend when it takes on the Western Rams in a road game at Rockbank’s Ian Cowie Recreation Reserve.