CALIVIL United gave itself an injection of confidence and kept alive its Loddon Valley season with a 93-point demolition of Pyramid Hill in the first semi-final at Mitiamo on Sunday.

The Demons put the foot down after half-time to win 21.19 (145) to 7.10 (52) as they bounced back from their qualifying final defeat to Mitiamo a week earlier.

It was the most one-sided first semi-final since the Demons beat Bears Lagoon-Serpentine by 103 points in 2006.

The Demons held a 20-point lead at half-time – 9.8 to 6.6 – before the floodgates opened in the second half when Calivil United piled on 12.11 to 1.4 to ensure they will hit next Saturday’s preliminary final against Mitiamo full of momentum.

“The boys took everything on board that we spoke about after last week and you could see at half-time they had a lot more to give,” Demons coach Anthony Dennis said.

“We played the way we needed to play in finals with our tackling pressure and it was a really good confidence-booster going into next week. Our midfield really set it up for us today.”

The midfield group included the Demons’ two best players in Luke Marchesi and Jake Lawry, who both kicked two goals.

Key defender Alex Davis, who played on Bulldogs’ forward Nathan Fitzpatrick, and Glen Scholtes were also among the best.

Recruits Mitch Farmer (two goals) and Mitch Brewer were others to play well for the Demons, whose 93-point margin was their biggest win over the Bulldogs since 1996.

“Both of their instructional talk on the ground was vital and they set us up really well today,” Dennis said.

Key forward Phil Lobb kicked five goals for the Demons, who had Alex Powell hurt his knee.

In a forgettable end to the season for the Bulldogs, they were best served by Nick Dundon, Steven Gunther, who continued his good form, Jack Francis in his second senior game, and Mick Dundon.

The premiership-starved Bulldogs went into the game without Michael Callinan, Michael O’Neill and Dylan Tonkin, who were all injured a week earlier.