THE re-start of the Loddon Valley league delivered a pair of one-point thrillers in Saturday's round eight.

Bridgewater and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine both scraped over the line by the barest of margins in the league's first games since May 22 following its three-week season standstill.

In a game of momentum swings between two flag contenders, Bridgewater came from 22 points down at half-time to edge out Pyramid Hill 13.8 (86) to 13.7 (85) at Mitchell Park and remain undefeated.

The Mean Machine kicked eight goals to four after half-time - including the final two of the match - after the visitors had trailed 9.3 to 5.5 at the main break.

The winning goal was kicked by Mean Machine forward Josh Martyn, who slotted four for the day.

"It was a fantastic win, but to be honest, I don't quite know how to feel about it," Bridgewater co-coach Jayden Donaldson said.

"I'm incredibly proud of the way the boys grinded it out against a quality opposition away, but I'm also frustrated about how we went about our footy in patches, particularly in the second quarter when we let them back in the game.

"There's certainly a lot of good and bad aspects that we'll take out of today."

Pyramid Hill kicked eight of its 13 goals during a second-quarter blitz with the wind to go from 20 points down at quarter-time to 22 points up at half-time.

"We played some really good footy in the second quarter, moved the ball really well and made the most of the breeze, but we lost our composure late in the game," Pyramid Hill co-coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said.

"We blazed away rather than trying to hit up short options and Bridgewater was able to kick the last couple of goals to get over the line, so we'll look at the footage and learn from that to be better in that scenario next time."

Fitzpatrick said the Bulldogs' disappointment at losing by one point was enhanced after Matt Ladson and Brad Driscoll were forced from the field and had to be taken to hospital.

"We've got two blokes, Matt Ladson and Brad Driscoll, going to hospital for off-the-ball incidents, which we'll have a look at," Fitzpatrick said.

"It was disappointing to see the game stop three times for off-the-ball incidents and all three players (Ladson, Driscoll and Jake Willcocks) had to be off for 20 minutes for concussion and Ladson and Driscoll didn't return."

There was one report out of the game, with Bridgewater's Liam Jacques having his number taken and sent off for an incident with Driscoll.

"I'm aware of the incident where our player was sent off. It's disappointing we would put ourselves in that situation and certainly something we'll look at closely in our match review and address," Donaldson said.

"I am not aware of three off-the-ball incidents though. It was a physical game from start to finish.

"We'll assess the game footage as a coaching group and highlight what we did well and where we can improve as a team."

Bridgewater's standout player was star veteran Andrew Collins.

"Andrew was sensational for us. He had a good first half, but when we needed to really get firing in the third quarter we put him in the middle and his class and leadership was invaluable," Donaldson said.

The Bulldogs, who had Braidy Dickens kick four goals, were best served by ruckman Trent Barri and Matt Klein-Breteler.

Bears Lagoon-Serpentine has opened a two-game buffer inside the top five after beating Maiden Gully YCW by one point.

The Bears came from 12 points down at three quarter-time to over-run the Eagles and win 11.11 (77) to 11.10 (76) at Serpentine in a pivotal clash for the two.

"It was a great result to get the win... obviously, it was a lot closer than we hoped it would be," Bears coach Greg Gadsden said.

"Maiden Gully's outside run hurt us a bit at times, but to our boys' credit they dug deep in the last quarter and were able to get over the line in a tight one."

Having started the final quarter trailing 10.8 to 8.8, the Bears got out to a seven-point lead after a goal to Ryan Prendergast, before the Eagles were able to cut the deficit back to one point after Sean Moyle converted a set-shot from 40m.

"There was probably two minutes to go when they got it back to a point. There was a lot of stoppages after their last goal and we're just pleased to have got the win," Gadsden said.

Consistent ruckman Nathan Twigg continued his outstanding form to be the best player for the Bears, who improved to 4-3.

"Nathan was sensational for us again today and is having a great season," Gadsden said.

Matt Gray provided the Eagles with a strong focal point kicking six of their 11 goals, while Ryan Strauch was their best player.

Following their 2-0 start to the season the Eagles have now lost five in a row, with their 2-5 record all the more concerning for their finals aspirations given there is still uncertainty over the structure and length of the revised season.

Boom mid-season recruit Brandyn Grenfell made his mark immediately for Marong, booting 10 goals on debut in the Panthers' 236-point demolition of Inglewood.

Former Goulburn Valley inter-league player Grenfell (10), who played a mix of ruck and forward, Kain Robins (9) and Adrian Pappin (6) combined for 25 goals in the Panthers' 36.24 (240) to 0.4 (4) win at Inglewood.

It was the second time Marong has held a team goal-less this year after keeping Calivil United to 0.2 (2) in round one, while the Panthers' score of 240 was their highest since 2004.

The ruthless Panthers showed no let-up all game, finishing with a 14-goal final quarter to move back into the top three at the expense of Pyramid Hill.

"It took us a little bit to get going having not played for a few weeks, but the most pleasing aspect of today was the brand we played," Marong coach Linton Jacobs said.

"We won the ball in the contest and then got it out and moved it quick and got some really good looks at goal. It was really good to see the way Brandyn, Kain and Pepsi (Pappin) were all able to work together. They had good chemistry for the first game they've played together."

As well as their three big forward targets all dominating, Richard Tibbett was superb in the ruck to be named best for the Panthers.

Taj Rodwell was Inglewood's best on a tough day for the Blues.

They came 35 days apart, but Newbridge has back-to-back wins after beating Calivil United by 31 points.

Having not played since their win over Inglewood on May 15 - they had the bye the week before the season standstill - the Maroons kicked six goals to two after half-time to beat the Demons 11.15 (81) to 7.8 (50) at home.

"We were really rusty early and Calivil got the jump on us," Newbridge coach Luke Freeman said.

"They were a lot harder at the footy than us and got us on the outside, but we were able to steady and work our way into the game and got better as the day wore on, which was pleasing."

Logan Dixon was the Maroons' best, while Freeman was full of praise for first-gamer James Gadd, who was moved onto Brady Childs after the Demons' veteran midfielder had cut Newbridge apart early.

"Brady started like a house on fire, so we moved James onto him in the second quarter and he did a really good job... he's a ripper," Freeman said.

Jedd Thompson was named Calivil United's best.

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