THE DUBBO Demons had not won in such a long time they weren't sure how to celebrate.
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That's what coach Mick Daly admitted after his side's 102-point victory over the Cowra Blues on Saturday at South Dubbo Oval.
The last time the Demons won a Central West AFL fixture was August 16 last year when they defeated the Young Saints while their last win over Cowra was back on July 27, 2013.
"We had a few beers in the sheds after the game but I don't think the boys were used to it, they didn't know how to react," Daly said.
"They were pretty excited and hopefully we can use this for our last game of the season against Cowra and we've got to play Bathurst as well."
The Demons won every quarter on Saturday and Charlie Maher starred with six goals in the 21.17 (143) to 5.11 (41) victory.
While the Demons weren't at full strength they did have a number of key players, including Maher, back in the lineup while veteran Kim Woodman celebrated his 200th appearance in a Dubbo jersey.
Things weren't looking great early as the hosts, already dealing with the loss of Lachlan Harper due to a shoulder injury in reserve grade, lost Ryan Woolfe with an elbow injury inside the first ten seconds of the match.
But a six-goal first quarter got the Demons out to a commanding lead at the first break, up by 35 points, and despite a bit of a lacklustre second quarter they went in at half time leading 10.7 (67)-3.6 (24).
"We started well but dropped off a bit and it was pretty scrappy but at half-time we had a talk about how we've got to be playing good footy," Daly said.
"We came out then and it was really good, we had a crack and in the last quarter we nearly shut them out but they kicked a goal with about a minute to go."
Maher was the star with six goals while Woodman, Arend Boog and Matthew Vasey all kicked four goals each.
Daly was full of praise for the dynamic Maher but said he was just one of a number of players who stood up, with the likes of Terry Lyons and Harley Bye also standouts.
"He (Maher) kicked three in the last quarter but he kicked into the post about five times so it could have been more," he said.
"But he was fantastic and the other players feed off him.
"'Woody' (Woodman) had a really good game but he was pretty quiet about it being his 200th, none of us knew and he told us after."
The Demons have the bye this weekend before travelling to both Orange and Bathurst and rounding out the regular season by hosting the Blues again.
DUBBO DEMONS 21.17 (143) (Charlie Maher 6, Kim Woodman 4, Arend Boog 4, Matthew Vasey 4, Joe Hedger 2, Sam Whalan goals) defeated COWRA BLUES 5.11 (41) (Geoff Day 2, Nick Collett, Trent Pengilly, Mark Dixon goals)
