THE Loddon Valley league got its much-needed first thriller of the season on Saturday as Marong's clash against Pyramid Hill duly lived up to its hype.

With both sides having gone into the round four clash at Marong undefeated, it was the Panthers who emerged with their unbeaten record still intact with a three-point victory.

The vastly-improved Panthers won 11.12 (78) to 11.9 (75), although the game was forced to be called off with four minutes remaining after Pyramid Hill full-back Dylan Morison was hurt in a marking contest.

Morison landed heavily and with an ambulance and paramedics required to attend to him on the ground, the game was delayed.

The late-game incident happened at 4.58pm, leaving the match needing to be re-started by 5.28pm for it to continue.

But with the ambulance not making it to the ground within 30 minutes, under AFL Victoria rules the game was called off and because it was after half-time the score at the time stood.

Bulldogs co-coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said on Sunday morning Morison had recovered well from the heavy landing and had suffered no structural damage.

While rapt his side had won the game and further showcased its credentials, Marong coach Linton Jacobs said the match not being able to go the full distance was an unfortunate ending to what had been a cracking contest on what was a big day for both clubs being the annual Mick Herrick Memorial Game.

"It's certainly not the way we wanted the game to end, that's for sure," Jacobs said.

"It was a big day for the club being the Mick Herrick Game and we really wanted to put in a good performance.

"After quarter-time we were able to get on top around the footy and we're obviously rapt to get the points against a quality side."

Pyramid Hill made the early running to lead by nine points at quarter-time and 13 at half-time, but the Panthers gained the ascendancy during the third term.

A five-goal to one third quarter gave the Panthers an eight-point advantage at three quarter-time to set up a thrilling finish that went down to the wire.

The Panthers faced their challenges throughout, with injuries to forward Simon Weekley (hamstring) and midfielder Kyle Manley (calf), while they were forced to play with 17 players on the field for 15 minutes in the second half after ruckman Adrian Pappin was reported and yellow-carded.

Better players for the Panthers included Jacob Ede, who had the key defensive job on competition leading goalkicker Braidy Dickens, who kicked three, and the midfield trio of Corey Gregg (two goals), Cory Jacobs and Nathan Devanny.

Key forward Kain Robins, who was opposed by Morison, was the Panthers' leading goalkicker with three.

At 3-0, it's the best start to a season since 2014 for Marong.

"It was one of the better games of footy I've seen in the Loddon Valley league over the past few years... it was a ripper contest with momentum swings throughout," Bulldogs' co-coach Fitzpatrick said.

"Marong had some really good structures and ran the ball well from half-back, so we had to come up with some ways of counteracting that and they probably got out a bit too easy at times.

"We would like to have put a bit more pressure on their run and carry from half-back, so that's something we'll continue to work on.

"Trent Barri played mainly in the ruck for us and was our best player today; Matt Klein-Breteler did well across half-forward in his first game of the year; and we thought Dylan Morison did a really good job on Kain Robins getting his fist in on a heap of occasions."

Mitiamo kicked its highest score for 17 years as the reigning premiers dished out another hiding to Calivil United.

The Superoos put the Demons to the sword in a 182-point belting at Calivil, winning 31.19 (205) to 3.5 (23).

It was the Superoos' first score above 200 since they booted 33.17 (215) against Inglewood in round six of 2004, with the result in stark contrast to their previous meeting when the Demons beat Mitiamo by four points in round 15 of 2019.

The percentage-boosting win lifted the undefeated Superoos to the top of the ladder.

"I thought in the first half Calivil put the pressure on us and won a fair bit of contested footy and clearances, so to be honest, we were a little disappointed with how we were going at half-time," Mitiamo co-coach Andy Grant said.

"After half-time we were able to kick into gear a bit... we were a lot better around the footy and were able to give our forwards more opportunities."

Eleven players kicked goals for the Superoos, headed by a bag of eight by Ryan Wellington, while Luke Lougoon, Tim Brooks and ball magnet Lee Dale slotted four each.

The Superoos - who had four 2019 premiership players out from the team the previous week - were at their most damaging in the third quarter when they slammed on 11 goals.

On a sour note for the Superoos, they lost star midfielder Doug Thomas to a hamstring injury.

For the second week in a row key defender Lachlan Woodward played another top game to be the Superoos' best player, while midfielder Dale had around 40 touches to go with his four goals.

The heavy loss sent the Demons to the rare position of the bottom of the ladder, with the young side having now been outscored 96 goals to eight in its first four games, with its second term when outscored 47-0 by the Superoos its fifth scoreless quarter of the season.

Jordan Lea and Bailey Greenwood were named best for the Demons in what was the club's most severe loss since a 184-point defeat to Inglewood in 1987.

Bears Lagoon-Serpentine notched its first win of the season, beating Inglewood by 84 points at home.

The Bears prevailed 18.21 (129) to 7.3 (45).

"It's always good to get the first win on the board. It was a scrappy game of footy, but you'll take a win every day," Bears coach Greg Gadsden said.

"In patches we played some good footy in the sense of the way we shared the ball and brought players into the game.

"The boys persisted really well all day to keep getting the ball forward.

"Brodie Hawke was great, he was tough around the footy all day and fed the ball out to a lot of our runners; Tannar Cerrone in the midfield worked hard and Andrew Gladman playing a bit of everywhere took a lot of marks and set up a lot of play for us."

The Bears spread their goals among 11 players, including four to James Rippingale.

While it was another heavy loss for Inglewood, it was the first of the Blues' four defeats they kept to under triple figures, and they did win their first quarter of the season when they outscored the Bears 4.2 to 2.6 during the third term.

Josh Taig kicked four of the Blues' seven goals, while the promising Jasper McClelland was named their best player.

Bridgewater handed out a 108-point hiding to arch rival Newbridge at Riverside Park.

The Mean Machine kicked 10 goals in the first half and 11 in the second to win 21.18 (144) to 5.6 (36).

The Maroons ran into a star-studded Mean Machine side whose inclusions featured Andrew Collins and Boden Alexander for their first games of the season after completing suspensions, star midfielder Zeb Broadbent and co-coach Jayden Donaldson.

"I thought it was a solid performance. We had 22 blokes who contributed and it was really hard to pick the best," Donaldson said.

"Pete Rothacker was sensational on the wing all day; Alex Powell up forward provided a really good target again; and Liam Jacques was really creative with his running and kicked three goals from the midfield.

"Newbridge matched us in the midfield for a lot of the game, but we were fortunate enough to have a bit of firepower up forward, particularly in the third quarter."

Collins and Josh Martyn - who now has 17 for the season - kicked four goals each for the Mean Machine to be among eight players who hit the scoreboard.

For the Maroons, who remain winless, assistant coach Harry Whittle continued his strong form to be their best player, while Sam Brynhildsen kicked two of their five goals.

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