Second on the ladder going into the clash, Sandhurst was wary of a Storm line-up that pushed Golden Square at Flight Centre Park just a few weeks earlier.

A spirited opening term on Strathfieldsaye’s court ended in  a 10-8 lead for Sandhurst.

The maroon and blue won the next two quarters, 11-7 and 14-11.

Storm cut the deficit in a 6-3 run early in the final term, but the Carol Cathcart-coached Sandhurst steadied to achieve a 45-37 victory.

Among the many highlights of the match were the mid-court duels as Sandhurst’s Stacey Rothacker (centre), Brooke Bolton (wing attack) and Kate Grose (wing defence) took on Brianna Dalrymple-Monro, Bianca Jones and Aleisha Langdon.

Goalshooter Kelsey Sartori racked up 10 of her team’s 14 goals in the third quarter.

Hot favourite for the premiership, Golden Square won by 20 goals on Kangaroo Flat’s court at Bendigo Mazda Oval in Dower Park.

In a rematch of last year’s grand finalists, Golden Square’s slick passing and strong defence was capped by excellent goaling in a 61-41 victory.

Gisborne won a hard-fought contest at Kyneton.

A week after a one-goal win on Maryborough’s court, Gisborne fought on to beat Kyneton by four goals.

Kyneton’s play was not indicative of its 5-7 record as seventh took on third.

The round was completed on Sunday when matches were played at Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve and at Bendigo’s Queen Elizabeth Oval.

Maryborough scored a 65-42 in the battle of the Magpies at Castlemaine.

Eaglehawk won every quarter on its way to a 42-35 win against South Bendigo at the QEO.

The Hawks opened up a nine-goal lead by half-time and went on to achieve their third win of the season.

A-grade ladder: Golden Square 184 per cent, 48 points; Sandhurst 153, 42; Gisborne 127, 34; Kangaroo Flat 138, 28; Strathfieldsaye 124, 28; Maryborough 114 24; Kyneton 97, 20; Eaglehawk 57, 12; South Bendigo 54, 4; Castlemaine 43, 0.