THE Werribee Devils sit fourth on the Big V men’s State Championship table after knocking off the Sherbrooke Suns at home on Saturday night.
Coming off a thrilling three-point win over the Waverly Falcons seven days earlier, the Devils stayed ahead for most of the game to come away with a hard-fought seven-point victory.
Werribee trailed by a point at quarter-time but managed to get ahead in the second term to lead by four at the main break.
The Devils then again outscored the Suns by two in the third term but had to battle hard for the ultimate honours, managing to stay a step ahead of Sherbrooke until the clock expired.
Ten of the 12 Devils to take the floor got among the points on the night.
However Kristian Rocci was the only one to hit double figures, with 10 points to go with his six rebounds.
EARLIER in the night the Devils’ Division Two women’s outfit also scored a win at Werribee Sport and Fitness Centre with a 27-point mauling of the Blackburn Vikings.
A disappointing first quarter had the Devils down by six at the first change but a stunning second-term turnaround completely turned the game on its head.
After conceding 15 points in the opening stanza Werribee responded with 15 of its own and managed to only concede three going the other way.
By half-time the margin blew out to 15, before another dominant performance in the third quarter extended that lead out to 24 by the final change.
The Devils then eased in the final quarter, eventually cruising to a comfortable win that put them second on the table with three season opening wins on the trot.
Lisa Troyahn was the star for Werribee inside the key with 18 points, while Emma Coyne’s 12 proved more than handy.
ROUND one of the Footscray Cycling Club’s Winter Road Season started with a twist as riders were treated to the club’s newest circuit out at Balliang in the Brisbane Ranges. With a flat prologue leading to a double climb of the approach to the Granite Road Hills, the scene was set for a season that will definitely have more than its fair share of mountain climbing.
With light north-easterly winds and pleasant mid-twenties temperatures, the A Grade race would only be made tough by the pace of Ben Johnson, the current road aggregate champ, who broke away from a strong bunch and set to building quite a formidable lead.
As the chasing bunch approached the first climbs, 19-year-old Caulfield South resident Darcy Woolley made the decision to bridge across to Johnson.
For the next 40 kilometres the pair built their lead, with African Wildlife Safari team rider Woolley planning his tactics in the sprint to perfection.“We came out of the last corner and I was out front,” he said.
“Ben decided to sit there and I just had to hit him early from the front as I knew if he got the jump on me I was done, so I hit and he was just half a bike length behind when we crossed the line.”
Woolley took the win from Johnson, with Dom Dudkiewicz taking the bunch sprint behind.
Woolley also recovered from his fair share of pre-race dramas.“I had a few dramas before the race when my crank arm came loose but I got that sorted in the nick of time,” he said.
“I’d like to go further and make a career out of racing. I have set myself a goal of winning a stage of the 2013 National Road Series and build on that.”
In B Grade racing, the field was remarkably strong with over a dozen riders all potential winners.
Although the bunch lost a few along the way, it came down to a sprint which was unfortunately hampered, through nobody’s fault, by the B Grade sprinters running into the rear of the D Grade sprint just as both bunches crossed the finish line.
In the end it was 56-year-old Essendon resident Bob Shannon who managed to find the best way through.
Meanwhile in C Grade results, Antonio Marino proved victorious and Graeme Wilson took out the D Grade race.
