Diamond Creek isn’t thinking about finals despite beating Banyule and Eltham in consecutive weeks, according to coach Craig Hayes.
Having taken four wins and a draw from their past six matches, the Creekers have moved within two points of fourth-placed Thomastown with five rounds remaining in the A Plus Labour Solutions Division 2 home and away season.
The past two matches have seen the Creekers come away with convincing wins in excess of over the Panthers at Eltham Central Park and ladder-leader Banyule – with the weekend’s result handing the Bears just their second loss of the year.
Hayes believes his side’s effort has improved greatly over the past fortnight and hopes the brand of football they are producing can be continued throughout the rest of the season.
“Our effort around the footy has lifted,” Hayes told NFNL.org.au.
“That combined with some better ball use and being able to put some scoreboard pressure in the first half are probably the elements that have all sort of come together in the last couple of weeks.”
Hayes said the improved effort has been collective, rather than from just a handful of players, and he lauded his side for the way they’ve performed over the past fortnight.
“It’s across the board. I thought the last two weeks we could’ve had 15-18 players in our best players,” Hayes said.
“In the first game against Eltham, I thought Jacob Booth was outstanding. He was probably the standout.
“Last week I thought it was Booth again, as well as Nick Barro and Jai Norman, but once you pass those three you could have another 15 or 16 in the best. It’s been a really good spread.”
Hayes says the confidence around the club is high, helping to strengthen the belief in the game style their playing.
“There’s no doubt that beating the better sides gives the team more confidence. It reinforces what we’re trying to do with our pattern of play and specific roles,” Hayes said.
“That’s all we’ve focused on and as a result they’re getting reward for that effort and it’ll just result in some deeper belief in what they’re doing.
“It’s all positive.”
Despite their strong recent form and a run home that sees them play only one top-four side in their remaining four matches, Hayes is keeping a lid on things and said the club hadn’t even thought about finals.
“It’s not in the realm for us. We’re not in the top-four, that’s the reality,” Hayes said.
“We know we need to keep our focus on what’s in front of us.
“I think if we were to divert leading up to the week ahead, that can result in some mistakes and we’re not interested in that. We’re just interested in playing good footy week to week.
“Given how we’ve played the last two weeks, that’s the finals type of footy we need to be playing.
“At the moment we are playing a really good brand of footy. We don’t need to change too much. We just now need to maintain the form that we have.”
Diamond Creek tackles bottom-placed Epping this weekend before fourth-placed Thomastown awaits at Coventry Oval in a game that could define both sides’ finals hopes.
The two share a great recent history, which includes last year’s remarkable Round 18 encounter, where the last spot in the top-four was at stake.
Needing to win by two goals to leapfrog their opponents into fourth, the Creekers led by as much as 51 points only to see the advantage deteriorate to two points at the final siren.
Following the clash with the Bears, Diamond Creek faces off against Watsonia and St Mary’s. If they are to keep going about their business, finals may become a reality for Hayes’ side.
