The Dubbo Demons were left shattered on Saturday when their 2016 Central West AFL season came to an end following a thrilling minor semi final at Bathurst.

The six-point loss to the Bathurst Bushranger Rebels was made even more painful for co-coach Will Bunt and his side considering the Demons had stormed back from a 25-point deficit to lead at one stage in the fourth and final quarter.

“Everyone was disappointed, we realised what could have been,” Bunt said after his side went down 8.11.59 to 7.11.53 at George Park.

“We were so close and we were good enough to go further. I don’t like to say it but we were the better team.

“We just couldn’t capitalise on our opportunities.”

While the campaign is now over for the Demons’ senior side, the women won their semi on Saturday, Bunt stated the club could still consider it a “successful season”.

After back-to-back wooden spoons the Demons became a force to be reckoned with this season and remain the only side to have beaten the Cowra Blues, who will host the grand final.

“The season has been a success and one of the senior players got up after the game and said in previous years when you said you played for the Demons you got laughed at but now people are interested and asking how we’re going so it’s been a real turnaround,” Bunt said.

Much like the Demons have turned around, the momentum changed direction during the minor semi.

Dubbo shot out to an early lead following three goals within the opening 10 minutes and went into the first quarter break with a 20 to 15 lead.

But all the momentum was lost in the second quarter as the Rebels took over. They kicked five goals and two behinds to the Demons’ two behinds to take a 25-point lead into half time.

“In the third quarter we then had three-quarters of the possession inside our forward 50 but we just couldn’t convert it into points,” Bunt said, adding an injury to full forward Brendan Garlett was a setback in the first half.

“We came back in the fourth and got in front but then they kicked a couple at the end and to their credit held on.

The Demons won the fourth quarter 23-7 but still kicked five behinds in the final term, and Bunt said there was plenty of soul searching in the sheds after the match with everyone picking out moments where they could have done things differently.

Nick O’Sullivan and Jono Naden, as expected, led the fightback late on and were strong in midfield once again. O’Sullivan kicked two goals to be the day’s leading scorer along side Rebel Josh Coyte, who also bagged two majors.

Malachi Dutschke, Ryan Woolfe and Ben Madigan were also singled out for praise but Bunt held special mention for Sam Reichstein, who defended Rebels star forward Jack Vogan brilliantly.

Bunt, who said he’d like to coach again next year but couldn’t commit this early, added the Demons are well-placed to be real contenders again in 2017.

“The blokes have got some experience and a taste of it now and they’ve got the self-belief too,” he said.

“We can now build on that culture and the attitude to go forwards next year.”