How much had Golden Square improved from the 11-goal loss to the Storm in round three?

Was Strathfieldsaye still clearly the top dog in the BFNL after its shock loss to Eaglehawk two rounds ago?

Ten minutes into the third quarter the answer to those two questions were clear - very little and yes.

However, by the end of the game the Storm's 14.13 (97) to 11.11 (77) victory posed more questions than it answered.

The final margin would indicate the Bulldogs have improved significantly, but when the game was on the line their still appeared to be a gulf in class between the two sides.

Strathfieldsaye moved the ball quicker, dominated the stoppages and its bottom six to eight players had far more impact on the game than Square's corresponding players.

Square did a solid job to restrict the Storm to two goals with the wind in the first quarter, but the home side could only manage 0.1 with the breeze in the second term.

The Storm led by 25 points at half-time and within a blink of an eye the visitors added four goals at the start of the third term to all but seal the four points.

To this point Square had only kicked one goal and it was hard to see where their next goal was going to come from.

That's what made the next 45 minutes of football even more confusing.

After staring down the barrell of a 12-goal plus defeat, Square outplayed Strathfieldsaye and turned a nine-goal deficit into a 20-point loss.

After kicking one goal in two quarters and 10 minutes, the Bulldogs added 10 goals in the remainder of the match.

Storm coach Troy Coates was not concerned by the scoreline in the final term.

"We have a huge game next week against Gisborne so we brought some players off in the last quarter and managed players,'' Coates said.

"It would have been nice to win by a little bit more, but we have to be mindful of the workload. We play the four top teams in a row, so it's huge month for us.

"We don't want to be in the position we were in last year where we kept breaking down with injuries.

"Square are a good side... they payed some good footy and they're always hard to play against at Wade Street. Any win at Wade Street is a good win."

Golden Square coach Bernie Haberman was not sure what to make of the final quarter fightback.

"The manner in which they beat us this time was different to the way they beat us the first time,'' Haberman said.

"The first time was all about transition, turnover and too skillful. This time it was the grunt around the stoppage.

"Pumping up our final quarter effort probably covers up where the game was won. At the same time you can't dismiss the way we finished because it would have been easy for our guys to turn their toes up and lose by 80 points.

"I'm disappointed we lost the game, but I also think we get some belief for the way we played in the last quarter-and-a-half.

"One thing for sure is that Strathfieldsaye is still the best side we've played."

Hugh Roberston played a key role in the win for the Storm.

He was lively across half-forward when the Storm kicked with the wind and played the loose man in defence in the second quarter when the Dogs had the wind.

Kellan Smith did a fine tagging job on Square star Jack Geary, while on a day where the conditions made it tough for ball-handling, Kallen Geary and Sam Heavyside showed their class with clean ball use.

The Storm look set to be without key defender Ben Lester for multiple weeks after he left the ground in the first half with a quad injury.

For the Bulldogs, you could mount a case that Jake Thrum deserved the three votes, two votes and one vote in Square's best and fairest.

He was clearly the Dogs' best ahead of Jon Coe and Hamish Morcom.

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