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FUELED by the disappointment of its ordinary showing against Pyramid Hill in round two, Mitiamo hit back strongly in Saturday's return bout to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the Loddon Valley league season.
The Superoos copped a 55-point hiding off the Bulldogs earlier in the season, but exacted revenge and have now beaten every opposition side following their 14.11 (95) to 12.10 (82) victory at Pyramid Hill.
And they did it minus two of their key forwards in co-coach Tyrone Downie (broken cheekbone) and Justin Maddern (finger injury), veteran on-baller Lucas Matthews, plus star midfielder Dougie Thomas suffering a hamstring injury in the third quarter.
"We were definitely below par in round two and Pyramid was very good that day and gave us a touch-up. You always want to play against the best, which Pyramid has been so far this year and we were really looking forward to testing ourselves against them today," Downie said.
"We were missing a few senior players today, but when Pyramid challenged us, which they did a few times in the second half, we were able to stick to our guns and answer."
Ken Gamble was a late inclusion for Maddern and had an impact in his first senior game of the season.
"Kenny had a couple of massive efforts late in the game. He ran down an opposition player that turned into a goal for us and about two minutes later he kicked a goal himself, so he was involved in both our last two goals," Downie said.
With neither Downie or Maddern in the forward line it was Luke Scott (four goals) and Dylan Clohesy (three) who not only led the Superoos' goalkickers, but also their best players.
Mitiamo's most productive quarter was the six goals it kicked with the wind during the second term as it turned a 10-point deficit at quarter-time into a 24-point lead at the main break.
The 13-point victory extends the Superoos' winning run to eight in what's their best streak since 2003.
Despite the loss, Pyramid Hill maintained top spot courtesy of its percentage of 194.6 being superior to Mitiamo's 170.3.
"Mitiamo played really well today, especially their on-ballers, who won a lot of contested footy and they used the ball really well going forward," Pyramid Hill coach Adrian McErvale said.
"They played the better footy over four quarters and deserved the win."
Forward Lachlan O'Toole kicked two goals and was named best for the Bulldogs.
"He's starting to find some really good form. He's coming back from a hamstring injury, but he's starting to play a lot more game time now and his wok-rate is really starting to lift," said McErvale, who was also among Pyramid Hill's best.
O'Toole was one of five multiple goalkickers in the Bulldogs side along with Braidy Dickens (four), Jake Willcocks (two), Bailey George (two) and on-baller Scott Mann (two).
MAIDEN GULLY YCW v BRIDGEWATER
For the second week in a row Maiden Gully YCW kicked a score of 88 in a game decided by three points.
Unlike last week though when beaten by Mitiamo by three points, this time the Eagles' tally of 88 was enough to win by three points in a thriller against Bridgewater.
For the second time this season just a kick separated the two sides as the Eagles clung onto win 13.10 (88) to 13.7 (85) at Maiden Gully to climb back into the top five.
"It's obviously a lot better to be on the right end of a close game this week," Eagles coach Wayne Mitrovic said.
"But to be honest, even though we got the four points, which is super important in getting back to fourth spot, we didn't play overly well at all.
"We were poor in a number of areas, particularly our disposal. We turned the ball over far too much, a lot of time not under pressure, so we've got to clean that up."
The Eagles and Mean Machine were nip and tuck again all day, just like round two when Bridgewater won by six points.
Such has been the tightness of their contests, the biggest margin that has separated the two sides in their two matches this year has been the 10 points Bridgewater led by at quarter-time of their first encounter.
Forward Matt Waterson (two goals) was named best for Maiden Gully YCW, while the pacy Travis Mercadante after being cleared from Huntly during the week also featured among the better players off half-back.
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Brayden Aitken was the best of the Eagles' goalkickers with four.
Five of the Eagles' 10 games this year have been decided by a kick for three wins and two losses.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Bridgewater, but the Mean Machine had the best player on the ground in ruckman Cameron Ross, who was a dominant force.
"Rossy was outstanding for us... he's been averaging about 40 per hit outs per game this year and I reckon he would have cracked 50 today," Bridgewater coach Dale Cameron said.
"He has been unbelievable for us this year."
Fellow tall Alex Powell also continued his solid season with six goals.
Having added Jake Maher as a mid-season recruit the previous week, the Mean Machine included another on Saturday with Peter Coghlan returning from Sandhurst.
CALIVIL UNITED v MARONG
A goal kicked by Levi Moss with just 33 seconds remaining on the clock handed Calivil United a three-point win over Marong.
Just as Mitiamo and Maiden Gully YCW did, Calivil United also avenged a round two defeat with its 11.8 (74) to 10.11 (71) win at home.
"To win a tight game today was great for the club," Demons coach Andrew Freemantle said.
"Marong was leading late in the game, but Levi snapped a great goal from the pocket to put us in front."
Key forward Michael Cooke returned to the Calivil United side following a knee concern and kicked three goals, with he and the midfield duo of Jake Hall and Jake Lawry the Demons' three best players.
Before Moss' match-winner the Panthers had fought their way to the lead late in the game after trailing by 14 points at three quarter-time.
The defeat cost the Panthers their position in the top five.
"It was a disappointing loss considering the importance of the game," Marong co-coach Taylor Beard said.
"At times we played the game on our terms and looked good, but credit to Calivil... they fought the game out and got the result."
Consistent midfielder Adam Ward continued his solid season to be the Panthers' best, while Harry Graham showed his versatility in providing a focal point up forward to kick four goals.
INGLEWOOD v BEARS-LAGOON SERPENTINE
Bears Lagoon-Serpentine shook off Inglewood in the second half to win its fourth game in a row and maintain its spot in the top three.
The Bears had been just 11 points in front at half-time before adding nine goals to three after the break to prevail 17.17 (119) to 10.7 (67) at Inglewood.
Forwards James Rippingale and Cody Gunn in his first game for almost two months slotted five goals each for the Bears, whose best was again hard-nut midfielder Matthew Gibbs.
Wingman Peter McKay and coach Ryan McNish led the better players for the Blues, whose 6.9 to the main break was their equal highest scoring first half of the season.
"We went in with a lot of confidence to half-time and spoke about making sure we come out and fire in the third quarter," McNish said.
"Unfortunately, Serp kicked the first goal of the third quarter and then it was a bit of a pile-on when they were able to get on top.
"It's one of those things where we've just got to keep working on making sure we're mentally ready for when opposition sides are looking to put the foot down like Serp did in that third quarter."
Veteran Blues defender David Rose suffered a groin injury.
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