SEA Lake Nandaly have handed Birchip-Watchem their first loss for the season, overcoming a slow start to claim a 32-point win on Saturday.
Last year’s premiers moved to the top of the ladder for the first time this season, while the Bulls fell to second.
The 13.12 (90) to 9.4 (58) result also effectively locks away the top two with five rounds to play, as the Tigers and Bulls are four games plus percentage ahead of Wedderburn and Donald.
After trailing for much of the first half, the Tigers held their opponents to just two goals after the main break.
Tigers co-coach Bryce Delmenico was full of praise for his team’s ability to change the momentum of the match in the second half.
“It was a great win and probably one of the better wins I’ve had at the club to be honest,” Delmenico said.
“It was a real arm wrestle until the last quarter – they got up by a couple of goals early in the game – so it was nice for us to pull that back in the second half.
“We were our own worst enemies in the first half, our execution wasn’t great and our forward entries were poor, we just targeted Josh (Jenkins) too much.
“We were blazing away to him a bit and they had two and three players on him, so we had to start lowering our eyes and making their defence a bit more accountable.
“We tried to break the game open on the outside as well.
“We find that when we get going through transition we can break a game apart pretty quickly if we get our running game going and can make it a bit more free-flowing.
“We tidied that up and it opened up in the fourth quarter when we kicked about four goals pretty quickly to blow it open.”
Wade and Kane Donnan were among the Tigers’ key players, as were Jack Poulton, Luke Martin, Charlie Cox and Billy McInnes.
Ruckman Hamish Hosking, Jacob Noonan, Darcy Reid and Joseph Reid were among the best for the Bulls.
It was also a good day for the key forwards, with Jenkins and Ben Edwards each kicking five goals for their teams.
Sea Lake Nandaly will go into this Saturday’s match against Nullawil without Adam Pattison, who suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter.
The Maroons warmed up for their encounter with the Tigers by claiming a 70-point win over St Arnaud at Lord Nelson Park.
Nullawil were never threatened by the Saints as they kicked eight unanswered goals in the first half, on their way to securing their sixth win of the season – 15.10 (100) to 4.6 (30).
Mitch Farmer kicked five goals for the Maroons, with ruckman Dean Putt putting in a best-on-ground performance alongside Ben Brennan and Kyle Doran for Nullawil, with Daniel Gifford, Jake Male and Mitch Egan the best for St Arnaud.
Round 13 also had the season’s third draw, when Charlton fell heartbreakingly short of claiming their first win of the year, having to instead settle for an 13.10 (88)-apiece draw with Wycheproof-Narraport.
After leading by 29 points at three-quarter-time, it looked as if Charlton’s run of losses was sure to end, before the Demons turned it on with a seven-goal final term, which included the last four goals in time on, to break the Navies’ hearts.
Kris Clifford (four goals) and Brodie Kemp (three goals) were the main goalkickers for Charlton.
Koby Hommelhoff, Robert Fawcett and Morgan Fawcett the best for Wycheproof-Narraport.
Wedderburn climbed to third on the ladder after defeating Boort by 36 points.
The Redbacks won every quarter on their way to their sixth win of the season, with Tom Campbell (five goals), Oscar Holt and Junior Miller (four goals each) dominating up forward in the 15.10 (100) to 9.10 (64) game.
