In front of a large Tannery Lane crowd, the Storm bounced back from an early first-term two-goal deficit to mow down the Tigers in a free-flowing contest.

Still without spearhead Lachlan Sharp the Storm had focal points up forward in Bryce Curnow (four goals) and Fergus Payne (three) as they rolled home to a 15.9 (99) to 11.10 (76) victory.

The Tigers jumped Strathfieldsaye early. After Daniel Davie had landed an accurate snap Kyneton was two goals up and doing all the attacking.

Fergus Payne got the Storm rolling and when Sam Heavyside followed suit with the home side’s second goal on the run suddenly Strathfieldsaye was back on level terms.

They did not surrender the lead for the remainder of play. When Bailey Henderson goaled from a steady set shot on the pavilion flank and Bryce Carroll’s long, bouncing kick skidded through the Storm was 12 points ahead at the first break.

Curnow was a major target up forward for Strathfieldsaye and he hammered home two of his four goals in the second quarter as Jake Moorhead, Sam Heavyside and Josh Formosa got on top at the stoppages.

Umpires intervened to break players apart as a scuffle erupted as they tried to exit the oval to their rooms at the half-time break but no real damage was done.

The Tigers managed to claw back the margin to three straight kicks close to the three-quarter time siren.

Nick Brazil and the O’Sullivans – Max and Tom – all landed majors at the creek end before Hugh Robertson broke clear of Patrick McCarthy’s tag and watched his long shot roll through to hand the Storm a four-goal lead at the last break.

Kyneton skipper Josh Govan, his brother Hamish and Rhys Magin tried desperately to lift their side in the final term.

And although both clubs landed three last quarter majors Strathfieldsaye always looked in control.

Curnow drove home two important majors – the first when he hauled in a great contested mark beside the point post, played on and goaled – while Lachlan Gill hammered home what looked to be the sealer.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Brazil took full advantage of a 50m penalty to nail an important Kyneton goal. Max O’Sullivan made amends for a Magin shot which had scraped the post, but those goals only helped trim the final deficit to 23 points.

Coach Troy Coates said in the first 10 minutes of the game Kyneton had “been all over” the Storm.

“We know they’re a quality side and it took us a while to get the momentum back,” he said.

Coates was also pleased with the effort of his back six.

“Our backline has been super all year. It’s led by our captain Kallen Geary down there and with Shannon (Geary) there as well, they set us up to get things going our way.”