A blistering seven-goal final term saw the Demons claw off the bottom of the table against Old Collegians, 8.8 (56) to 4.8 (32), to secure an emotional but "well deserved" victory for the playing group and supporters.

"I'm bloody ecstatic, I'm so happy," he said.

"It's so rewarding for all of us and the volunteers. It's been a bit of a tough old week down at Timboon, losing a few good community people but the boys deserved this win.

"As a coach I'm so proud to get the result. The club's going fantastic, hopefully this just lifts us and proves we're going in the right direction on and off the field."

The beloved club champion praised the work of ruck duo Sam Negrello and Kyle Delaney throughout the match, while also pointing to some tactical shifts in the last term as a decisive factor.

"I obviously missed last week with a cork in my leg and didn't ruck at all (on Saturday) so Sam and Kyle really did stand up," he said.

"They were fantastic and our captain Sam Newey was swung forward in the last quarter and had an impact, Ben Harding swung back from up forward and we gave him a licence to just run and he kicked two from the back line and the kids through the midfield were fantastic."

He added after being down by three goals at three-quarter-time with just one goal next to their name something needed to change in the way they moved the football.

"We played into their hands and were too wide for Davidson Oval which is really windy but we knew we had the legs and we took it on through the middle in the last and the rest is history," he said.

"We played one good quarter footy and got the job done.

"But at three-quarter-time we were down and it forced us to go through the middle and in the last quarter we backed ourselves in and capitalised up forward."

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