At the 20-minute mark of the third quarter Strathfieldsaye led Kyneton by just seven points. 40 minutes later the Storm were celebrating a 45-point win, 18.14 (122) to 11.11 (77).

"Kyneton were good and their top-end talent is really good,'' Storm co-coach Darryl Wilson said.

"Kyneton controlled the footy well at times and they put us under pressure when they got it forward.

"We were happy with the way we scrapped it out. We were much better late with our use of the footy."

For the first 12 minutes of the match the Storm struggled to get their hands on the footy.

On the rebound from a 15-goal loss to Gisborne, the Tigers roared out of the blocks and kicked the first three goals of the game before the home side could get the ball inside 50.

Read more: Catch up on all the latest local footy news

Two of the first three goals came from the boot of star midfielder turned forward Rhys Magin, who proved to be a match-up nightmare for the Storm throughout the day.

The flat Storm needed a spark and there's no better player in the competition at providing that spark than Kal Geary.

In his first game for the season, Geary kicked a fine running goal and won some key possessions through the midfield.

He found an able sidekick in Baxter Slater, who has relished the opportunity to get extra midfield time in the opening three rounds of the season.

Geary and Slater sparked a stunning five-goal surge in eight minutes as the Storm went from 21 points behind to nine points in front in the blink of an eye.

After 21 minutes of high intensity, free scoring footy, the rest of the first half was a grind.

Kyneton tightened up defensively and its midfield regained some control around the stoppages.

The Storm threatened at times to break the game open, but the Tigers kept coming and when Mitch Comben kicked a goal after the half-time siren the visitors closed to within two points at the main break.

Comben nailed his second goal of the game to open the third quarter and the Tigers were back in front.

Just when it looked like the Tigers had some momentum a silly downfield free kick proved costly for the Tigers.

Riley Clarke kicked truly from the free kick before the Storm added two more goals to grab a 13-point lead.

Impressive midfielder Hamish Yunghanns responded to keep the Tigers within seven points heading into time-on of the third quarter.

Red time of the third quarter proved decisive.

The Storm kicked 2.4 to nothing in the dying minutes of the term to lead by 23 points at the final change.

The big ground and the Storm's deeper midfield took its toll on the Tigers in the final term.

Midfielders Jye Formosa and Riley Wilson led the charge for the Storm as they kicked 6.6 to 3.2 in the last quarter.

"Probably the best sign for us was that we didn't have (Lachlan) Sharp, (Caleb) Ernst or (James) Schischka dominate in the forward line, but we were still able to generate a winning score,'' Wilson said.

"We had seven changes into that side and we haven't had a settled side through three rounds."

Co-coach Shannon Geary, Hunter Lawrence, Brady Hore, Harry Conway, Jake Hall, Daniel Clohesy, Caleb Sheahan, Cal McCarty, Lachlan Gill and ruckman Michael Pilcher were on the sidelines for the Storm.

The Tigers were not without their own injury concerns, with Steve Georgio, Ned O'Sullivan, Cameron Wallace and Lachlan Ford missing from the senior side.

Recruit Cameron Manuel showed his class, particularly in the first half, while Hamish Yunghanns continued his good form in the middle of the ground.

Vice-captain Harrison Huntley had an enthralling battle with Lachlan Sharp.

Sharp finished with four goals, but Huntley was clearly one of his side's best players.

"I feel as though we're going in the right direction, we just have some areas that are hurting us a lot,'' Kyneton coach Paul Chapman said.

"We're aware of that, but we're also pretty excited about the way we're playing our footy.

"We didn't get the win, but there's some good signs there going forward."

The Tigers have a crucial home game next Saturday against South Bendigo.

The Storm will boost their percentage when they travel to the Camp Reserve to play Castlemaine.

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