The Cats went within a whisker of suffering their first defeat of the season against White Hills on Saturday.

Five weeks after dismantling the Demons by 15 goals in the season-opener at Scott Street, it took a goal in the final minute to get the Cats over the line by four points in a thriller at Lockington.

White Hills looked on track to record one of the upsets of the season when it led by three goals midway through the final quarter.

However, the Cats dug deep to get over the line 14.5 (89) to 13.7 (85).

"It hurts, but that's footy,'' White Hills' coach Sam Kerridge said.

"it was a big challenge to go to Locky and we owed them after what they did to us in round one.

"The boys have been playing some really good footy and we thought we could challenge them if we played our best footy.

"It was disappointing to lose, but there was some more positive signs there."

Forward Mitch Dole kicked six goals for the Demons.

David Wright, Kerridge and Jake Allport were White Hills' best players.

Forward Lachlan Collins and midfielder Zeik Johnston were the heroes for the Cats.

Collins kicked two of his six goals in the dying minutes and Johnston kicked a classy goal on the run to clinch the club's sixth-straight win.

"We didn't play our best footy, but full credit to White Hills they have improved a lot,'' LBU coach Kahl Oliver said.

"Mitch Dole caused us some headaches and we couldn't stop (Sam) Kerridge."

Heathcote also went within a kick of toppling a higher-rated opponent.

The improving Saints stretched reigning premier Leitchville-Gunbower to the limit, with the Bombers holding on to win 12.13 (85) to 12.7 (79).

"Our effort is really good, but we can't get over the line,'' Heathcote coach Wayne Primmer said.

"Last week (agaist Huntly) we should have won, but we threw it away.

"This week I can't say that we should have won. They were neater with their skills than what we were."

Leitchville-Gunbower's senior players stood up when it mattered most.

Jack Dye, Matt Pollock and Tyler Jones were instrumental in the win.

For Heathcote, Codie Price's stunning start to the season continued and Kai Cavallaro kicked three goals in an impressive performance.

"The players' attitude has been fantastic,'' Primmer said of the Saints.

"They did a ll the work in the pre-season and we're getting better each week."

Fresh off the bye, Colbinabbin gave its rivals a reminder of its class when it thrashed Huntly by 107 points.

The Grasshoppers were efficient inside 50, kicking 25.4 (154) to the Hawks' 7.5 (47).

With several first-choice forwards on the sidelines injured, Colbo coach Julian Bull moved wingman Sam Bowers to the forward line.

Bowers responded by kicking seven goals.

"He's a really smart footballer,'' Bull said of Bowers.

"With Ryan Hon out we thought we'd try Sam forward and he got on the end of a few.

"He did kick 46 goals in a season couple of years ago off a wing, so we knew he could hit the scoreboard."

Bull was most impressed with the Grasshoppers' start to the game.

"We hadn't started a game well all season up until this one,'' Bull said.

"We put the emphasis on starting well and to everyone's credit we were on song from the start. I think we had 87 tackles for the day, which is a good sign when you when win by that much."

Midfielder Todd Bryant had 36 possessions, while Matt Riordan played across half-back and controlled the play.

Huntly was best served by Steve Kairn, Harry Whittle and Josh Harris.

Mount Pleasant won its third-straight game when it defeated Elmore 17.15 (117) to 8.4 (52). The margin was 81 points at three quarter-time before the Bloods added five goals to two in the final term.

"I was worried how the boys would react after such a great win last week (against North Bendigo),'' Mounts' coach Darren Walsh said.

"I thought we were a bit flat early, but the boys picked it up and to get nine goals up at half-time was pleasing.

"We had quite a few sore boys in the last quarter, so we had to rest a few."

One of those sore players was Ben Weightman, who kicked goals, before leaving the ground in the final quarter with quad soreness.

A knee injury to Joe Whiting was the only negative for Mounts.

Jesse Tuohey provided plenty of run for the Blues and Billy Mahony payed his best game for the club since crossing from Kyneton.

Nathan and Danny Brewster and Rhys Healey battled hard for Elmore.

After an ecnouraging start to the season, the Bloods have suffered two-straight heavy defeats.

After next weekend's inter-league break, the HDFNL resumes on May 25, with the match of the round between Mt Pleasant and LBU. Other games are White Hills at home to Heathcoe, Elmore travels to North Bendigo and Leitchville-Gunbower hosts Colbo.

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