The Bulldogs, minus a pair of key players in Clare Vearing and Ella Finemore due to a family occasion, led at every change in Saturday's match, going on to defeat the Hawks 55-42.

Rylee Connell and Tazma Morris stepped into the goal circle for the Bulldogs and were able to excel against a well-performed and tight-knit Eaglehawk defence.

The win was the Bulldogs' fourth in five games this season, with their only non-win a draw against Kangaroo Flat in round three.

Thrilled to have emerged with a win, Gisborne coach Tarryn Rymer believed there was still plenty of improvement left in her side.

"We'll take that win ... I thought there were some patches of netball that were scrappy and that allowed Eaglehawk to capitalise," she said.

"We need to make sure we are putting together consistent quarters and that has been our aim throughout the season, especially coming up against some strong opposition.

"Rylee stepped up from A-reserve today and performed really well. We were really lucky to have her on board.

"Eaglehawk is a quality team, I think their defensive pressure was just awesome and they made us work for every ball."

The Bulldogs were able to increase their lead at every change, with their 14-9 third quarter statistically their most dominant.

They were well served throughout the contest by wing attack Holly Doricic, centre Tiana Newman and wing defence Emerson Lakey.

In a vote of confidence for Eaglehawk, Rymer said she 'would be very surprised' if the Hawks did not feature in this season's finals.

"Ash and Abby (Gilmore), in particular, are pretty hard to stop in goals, they really made Madds (Maddy Stewart) and Pol (Polly Salter) think about their work today," she said.

"But I thought our ability to steady and not rush the ball at times was a real positive.

"Once we felt we didn't have to force into our goalers things worked. Rylee was phenomenal in that goal circle and she just used our ball movement to change up our angles and get it in."

A loss for Eaglehawk snapped a two-game winning streak following solid wins over Maryborough and Kyneton.

Hawks coach Gayle Annan could not fault her players' effort against a convincing Gisborne.

She found positives in the performances of her defensive trio of goal keeper Elley Lawton, goal defence Morgan Keating and wing defence Renee Sheridan.

"We were ready and we do have our options and our plans identified, but today was one of those learn a lesson type of matches," she said.

"Gisborne are very quick on the ground and they work very hard.

"Everybody agreed after the match that the best we've played (this year) wasn't presented as well today as it has been in the past couple of weeks.

"That, in part, is why I have been looking forward to playing Gisborne and (after the inter-league break) Sandhurst - it needs to be a lesson learned."

In other games, Jannelle Hobbs' 200th BFNL game as a coach was a winning one, with South Bendigo defeating Strathfieldsaye 62-47.

The win advanced the Bloods' record to 3-2 and moved them back up above Eaglehawk and into fourth place.

Kyneton notched up its second win by overcoming Maryborough in a thriller 44-42.

It was the Tigers' first victory since their round one triumph over Golden Square.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: