SEA Lake Nandaly have claimed their 15th win of the season, remaining the team to beat with an 88-point victory over third-placed Donald.
The Tigers forward line made the difference once again, as they kicked away after a slow start to win 19.12 (126) to 6.2 (38).
Former Adelaide star Josh Jenkins kicked five goals for the game, while Billy McInnes and John Summerhayes kicked four and three respectively.
The win put the Tigers within one win from claiming an undefeated season, but coach Bryce Delmenico said his side weren’t looking too far ahead.
“We take each of our games one quarter at a time, we just try to get the job done that is in front of us,” he said.
“We try to keep a very level head amongst the playing group and a lot of our success this year is due to that.
“It’s also about being very team focused here, so the way we go about things is not about the individual at all.”
With rain drenching the Sea Lake ground all game, the home side took a quarter to fully get going.
After kicking the first three goals of the game, the Tigers allowed Donald to make inroads, with key forward Sam Dunstan kicking three goals in the first term.
But Delmenico said that after a talking at quarter-time, his side were able to run over the top of their opponents.
“I really put it on the boys to tighten up and make it a 50-50 contest especially in those conditions,” he said.
“We really pride ourselves on defending first and then attacking from there.
“We like to handball and run a lot, but in these conditions it’s about getting numbers to the footy and getting there first.
“We weren’t able to get that handball going as much as we usually would, but it was still there at points.”
The Tigers wrapped up the minor premiership some time ago but were still strengthening on their run to the finals.
Delmenico, Matt Elliot, Brodie Adcock and Kane Donnan were among the inclusions.
They will also be hoping to welcome back Wade Donnan and Will Simpson for their final regular season game next week against Wedderburn.
The Redbacks will be up and about following a come-from-behind five-point win against Nullawil, after being down by 25 points at three quarter time.
It was almost a reversal of the round 8 meeting between the two sides, which Nullawil won by just a goal.
Sam Barnes was influential for the Redbacks, kicking six goals, as was Luke Holt and Tom Campbell.
Jordan Humphreys and Patrick Kelly were two of the Maroons’ best, but Wedderburn were able to hold their side to just three behinds in the final term.
It was also a day to celebrate for Nullawil’s Daniel Watts, who played his 250th game in Maroon. Watts has been a key player at the club, where he played all of his junior football.
He and Nullawil will be hoping to finish their year strongly when they travel to Boort for the Magpies’ final game of the season.
In the round’s other games, a bag of six goals from Corey Jones wasn’t enough to stop Charlton from claiming an impressive 16-point win against Wycheproof-Narraport.
Nick Thompson and Christopher Gavaghan combined to kick nine goals to steer their side to their fourth win of the season.
Winless St. Arnaud were unable to cause an upset against seventh-placed Boort, who claimed a big 44-point win.
The Magpies had five multiple goal kickers, headlined by a bag of five from Natnael McLaren.
The Saints will have one final chance to break their duck, but it won’t come easy against reigning premiers Birchip-Watchem.
