Maddern was left searching for answers after the Superoos had last week failed to fire a shot in a 52-point hiding from Calivil United.

The disappointing showing against the Demons forced the Superoos to take a good, hard look at themselves during the week and on Saturday they responded in fine style, defeating Newbridge by 32 points.

The Superoos won 12.12 (84) to 7.10 (52) in a result that closed their gap to the top three to just one game as they ended the Maroons’ four-match winning streak.

“We really needed that win today… we were finally able to play the style of footy we’ve been working on and it was a real step forward for us,” Maddern said.

“We really played for each other today. The feeling after the game was fantastic and the boys really enjoyed it, which are good signs.”

The pressure was on the Superoos at half-time when they trailed the Maroons by 14 points, 5.8 to 3.6.

However, Mitiamo assumed control of the contest after the break, booting nine goals to two in a performance that will give the Superoos renewed confidence heading into another big game this week against Bridgewater.

“We weren’t able to move the ball cleanly in the first half, but I challenged the boys to take risks and play through the centre of the ground in the second half and we were able to break the game open,” Maddern said.

Defenders Ben Bacon and Adam Sims were the two best for the Superoos, while gun on-baller Luke Scott made a welcome return to the side. Maddern booted five goals, and after starting in defence, Matt Wiegard was switched forward and kicked three goals.

Of the three games the Maroons have lost this season, two have been to the Superoos. Better players for the Maroons included Caleb Argus, Jack Fowler and prime mover Jordan Gilboy.

• Bears Lagoon-Serpentine ended its three-game losing streak, but had to do it the hard way against Marong.

Coming off the bye, the Panthers got the jump on the Bears to lead by 36 points at quarter-time, and by the final change were still ahead by 11 points at Serpentine.

However, after kicking only eight goals for the first three quarters, the Bears slammed on 7.5 to 3.1 in the last term to run over the top of Marong and win 15.17 (107) to 14.6 (90).

“We were very poor with our conversion in the first quarter (0.6) and Marong was able to take its chances and get away from us,” Bears coach Greg Gadsden said.

“But I was really pleased with the way the guys were able to fight back… sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and that was us today.”

James Rippingale and veteran Nathan McNally kicked three goals each for the Bears, whose best player was ruckman Justin Laird.

Andrew Gladman, who started the game half-back before spending the last three quarters at centre half-back, the tenacious Miggy Podosky and Harry Gadsden were also prominent for the Bears, who are now 6-4.

Ryan Wellington was the Panthers’ leading goalkicker with three, with the best players again headed by Jarrod Fitzpatrick (two goals) and Patrick Ryan.

• Bridgewater moved into second position, while Pyramid Hill’s stretch of consecutive finals appearances stretching back to 2004 is now on shaky ground.

The Mean Machine proved too strong for the Bulldogs at home in winning 13.9 (87) to 7.15 (57).

Mean Machine forward Alex Collins continued his fine season with a bag of seven goals to be his side’s best player in Bridgewater’s third win in a row.

It was Collins’ fourth haul of at least five goals this season as he maintained his position at the top of the league goalkicking with 46.

Luke Harrison, Xavier Henderson and Alex Pollock were also among the better players for the Mean Machine, whose superior conversion proved telling as both sides ended the match with 22 scoring shots apiece.

Pyramid Hill – now two games outside the top five – was again forced to play catch-up footy as its ordinary starts continued with a 29-point deficit at quarter-time.

“We emphasise the importance of starting well, but the past three weeks we’ve dug some big holes for ourselves and you can’t afford to do that against good teams,” Bulldogs co-coach Brad Fawcett said.

“We competed well, but it was our skill and execution that let us down all game… we kept handing the ball back to Bridgewater and they kept making us pay.”

The pacy Matt Klein-Bretler, on-baller Adrian McErvale and captain Mick Dundon off half-back were Pyramid Hill’s best.

• Calivil United improved to 10-0 as it dished out the biggest hiding of the season to Inglewood by 125 points.

In their annual heritage game at Raywood, the Demons disposed of the Blues 23.17 (155) to 4.6 (30) – their 31^st win in a row over Inglewood.

Ladder-leader Calivil United wasted no time asserting its authority in leading by 51 points at quarter-time and extending its advantage to 75 at half-time.

Captain Ben Knight outscored Inglewood off his own boot with a haul of six goals for the Demons, who also had good contributors in Alex Davis, Lachlan McAllister and Ben Haines.

Daniel Lloyd and Ben Conley battled hard for the Blues, who dropped back to last on the ladder.

“Calivil’s polish on the outside was the big difference. We were able to match them on the inside, but when we got it on the outside we turned it over far too often,” said Blues co-coach Ryan McNish, who was also among his side’s best.

“They are well-drilled, spread well and were just far too classy for us today.”