Springbank has gone to the top of the Central Highlands Football League ladder as part of a shake up among premiership hopefuls.
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The Tigers displaced Bungaree at the helm after demolishing a disappointing Skipton by 63 points at Wallace on Saturday.
Springbank dished out a lesson in pressure football for the Emus in a game which was put away early in the third term.
While a bye in the last home and away round means Springbank might not finish on top, the primary objective of locking in a top four spot and a double chance in the finals was achieved with the 12th consecutive win.
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In contrast, Skipton's hopes of forcing its way into a qualifying berth now appear gone.
Springbank was one of three of the competition's powerhouses to flex their muscles and set themselves as the ones to again be the main premiership contenders.
Reigning premier Gordon reminded Carngham-Linton that the improved Saints still have some way to go.
Although Carngham-Linton will be playing finals, it was no match for the Eagles at Snake Valley - losing by 58 points.
It was only the Saints' third loss, but they will need to regroup quickly as they face Hepburn next round.
Hepburn produced some of its best football of the season to down Bungaree by 29 points at Bungaree and with it moved to fourth.
After being unbeaten for the opening 13 rounds, Bungaree has now dropped its past two games and has some work before the finals.
In addition to some changing of the guard at the top-end of the top eight, Newlyn finalised the finals line-up with the help of Dunnstown.
Newlyn moved two games clear in eighth after getting the better of Ballan by 54 points at Bacchus Marsh.
Then to complete the deal Dunnstown had a commanding 58-point win over Learmonth at Dunnstown.
The Lakies' last hopes of making the finals rested with them defeating Dunnstown and Newlyn falling over in its remaining games.
Learmonth never looked like living up to its end of the deal.
The Towners kicked seven goals in the first term and by half-time led 44 points and there was no coming back.
Springbank, Bungaree, Gordon, Hepburn, Carngham-Linton, Skipton, Dunnstown and Newlyn will play finals, which begin on August 26-27.
Bungaree, Carngham-Linton and Newlyn are the new faces, while Learmonth, Buninyong and Waubra have dropped out from last year's line-up.
SPRINGBANK coach Andrew Challis said pressure and defence had been a major focus for the Tigers this season.
"We've wanted to bring that out against the better sides and we did it really well," he said in summing up their win over Skipton
"From there we spread really well and were able to present quickly to our forwards in one-on-ones."
Challis said the Tigers had been conscious of ensuring Skipton, specifically Mitch Gilbert and Daniel Kilpatrick through the midfield, did not get any space and were rewarded from there.
In contrast, Springbank's midfield led by an irrepressible Brant Haintz had the ball on string.
From there it was Stephen Staunton up foward with six goals, Todd Finco and Fletcher Toose who did the rest.
Challis also talked up his defence, where the likes of Jarrod Curran, Matt Lakey and Kieran Kennedy were often quiet achievers.
One of the few positives for Skipton, which managed only one goal across the second and third quarters, was Jethro Kirby's return.
He kicked four goals in his first senior appearance in more than a year after a knee reconstruction.
Skipton coach Chris Banwell said the Emus had failed to adapt when placed under pressure
He said this made it hard to hit a target and take some heat out of the game.
Banwell said focus for Skipton now was to turn things around before the finals.
HEPBURN coach Mitch Banner was rapt with the Burras, which with straighter kicking would have won by more against Bungaree.
"It was a really impressive four-quarter performance. We just didn't execute as well as we would have liked going into the 50."
Hepburn shook off Bungaree with a five-goal and then maintained the advantage
Bungaree coach Ryan Waight said the Demons were confident they could get back to the level they playing during their unbeaten run.
"We've been the hunted. Now we're probably going back to being the hunters.
"We were an unknown quantity at the start of the year. We rode a wave of momentum and three months later everyone was looking at us, hunting us down.
"We also thought this time of the season was going to be a change, but with a few players to come back we're confident we can get out momentum going again" he said.
GORDON coach Adam Toohey, who booted a match-winning eight goals, getting the jump in the first quarter had set up the game for the Eagles.
"We were keen to build off the previous week.
"We had a good performance there (defeating Gordon) and felt if where could fix up our third quarter from that game we could put it all together and continue to build towards the finals."
Toohey said he was particularly pleased with the way his players had responded after Carngham-Linton tightened up in the second term..
Carngham-Linton coach Clayton Scoble said it had been a learning curve for the Saints.
"They're not the premiership side for nothing.
"They just outclassed us."
"We felt we were as good as them in patches, but over the day they were far too good," he said.
Springbank 6.5 8.10 13.14 16.16 (112)
Skipton 3.0 4.2 4.5 7.7 (49)
GOALS - Springbank: S.Staunton 6, B.Haintz 3, T.Finco 2, M.Doll 1, F.Toose 1, S.Donegan 1, M.Lakey 1, C.Quinlan 1; Skipton: J.Kirby 4, M.Romeril 1, J.Draffin 1, J.Cuttler 1
BEST - Springbank: M.Lakey, B.Haintz, J.Thompson, K.Kennedy, S.Staunton, T.Finco; Skipton: P.Graham, A.Twaddle, J.Kirby, M.Gilbert, J.Mason, J.Cusack
Gordon 5.5 8.8 12.12 18.16 (124)
Carngham-Linton 2.3 4.6 6.8 9.12 (66)
GOALS - Gordon: A.Toohey 8, B.Griffiths 2, C.Ascough 2, B.Sutcliffe 2, J.Lampi 1, Z.Ryan 1, M.Griffiths 1, E.Crackel 1; Carngham-Linton: D.O'Brien 5, T.Scoble 1, W.Bruty 1, J.O'Brien 1, J.Foley 1
BEST - Gordon; A.Toohey, H.Biggs, B.Griffiths, M.Griffiths, Z.Ryan, J.Lampi; Carngham-Linton: K.Raven, T.Raven, C.Lloyd, B.Benson, W.Bruty, M.Knight
Hepburn 3.3 4.9 9.10 13.13 (91)
Bungaree 1.1 4.1 6.1 10.2 (62)
GOALS - Hepburn: K.Yanner 2, J.Hogan 2, B.Mckay 1, R.Ferraro 1, D.Dennis 1, S.Tighe 1, J.Carrick 1, Z.Kupsch 1, M.McKay 1, L.O'Halloran 1, D.O'Halloran 1; Bungaree: J.Sardo 3, J.Mahar 3, T.Elliott 1, A.Browning 1, A.Milroy 1, D.Murphy 1
BEST - Hepburn: S.Tighe, B.Mckay, N.Johns, H.Rodgers, M.MckKay, Z.Kupsch; Bungaree: N.Browning, M.Lawless, T.Elliott, T.Wakefield, D.Murphy, M.Geary
CLUNES and Daylesford have ended lengthy losing runs.
Clunes had its first win since round six at the end of May, defeating Beaufort 23 points at Beaufort in the CHFL on Saturday.
Daylesford held on by three points against Waubra in a desperate finish at Victoria Park.
The Bulldogs had not tasted success since round five.
It was a fitting finish for a big day for Daylesford, with club legend Scott Winduss playing a starring role in a one-point win to its reserves in his 400th game.
Clunes, which now has five wins for the year, shook off Beaufort with a four-goal third quarter.
As pleased as he was to get the premiership points, Clunes coach Luke Davidson was not completely happy with the way the Magpies finished off the game.
"We still didn't play the way we wanted to in the last quarter, but because we'd played so well in the previous two we had some breathing space."
He said with the last two games against Bungaree and Carngham-Linton, Clunes had to be playing at its best for four quarters.
Beaufort joint coach Mitch Jenkins said the Crows had lost their winning chance in the third term.
"We played some good footy for the best part of three quarters. It's disappointing. We had an opportunity."
He said Beaufort had played some better football in the back end of the season, but as had been the case again against Clunes was unable to limit the damage on the scoreboard when it had a lull.
For Daylesford, it was another thriller as it recorded its second victory.
The Bulldogs have had a series of near misses throughout the season with a draw and three losses by five points.
Daylesford led by 18 points at three-quarter time before the Roos charge home with five majors.
Waubra hit the lead late, but was unable to stop the Bulldogs reply with what would be the winning goal.
Daylesford coach Hamish Jarrad said it was a welcoming change to finish on the right side of the ledger.
"It was more relief than anything else," he said.
Jarrad said Daylesford became a little nervous as the match tightened up, missing some opportunities in attack early in the last term which would have potentially put the game out Waubra's reach.
"They kept coming at us and we made some mistakes which could have cost us the game. We were lucky to get one (a goal) at the end."
Waubra coach Trav Ford said it could be the luck of the draw in tight games. "They just happened to be in front when the siren sounded."
"We could have done things better, but we fought it out."
Daylesford 3.1 5.3 9.4 11.7 (73)
Waubra 1.2 4.3 6.4 11.4 (70)
GOALS - Daylesford: X.Walsh 4, T.Maher 2, L.Jones 2, B.Jones 1, J.Cummings 1, A.Pasahidis 1; Waubra: B.Green 4, J.Conroy 3, B.Colligan 2, A.McPherson 1, J.Knights 1
BEST - Daylesford: X.Walsh, B.Jones, C.Peart, L.Jones, T.Hunt, T.Maher; Waubra: J.Knights, B.Green, J.Conroy, J.Lukich, H.Roscoe, B.Morshead
Clunes 1.2 4.5 8.8 10.9 (69)
Beaufort 3.0 3.2 3.3 7.4 (46)
GOALS - Clunes: M.Kasparian 2, J.Fazio 2, N.Clarke 1, A.Riches 1, L.Saligari 1, J.Robertson 1, J.Thomas 1; Beauforts: R.Norris 2, A.Troup 2, L.Cox 1, R.Luke 1, T.Haase 1
BEST - Clunes: M.Kasparian, C.Newton, J.Thompson, J.Simson, A.Bowd, J.Thomas; Beaufort: B.Howard, T.Stubbs, T.McKenzie, T.Haase, L.Cox, R.Norris
DUNNSTOWN continues to build toward finals.
The Towners' dominance over Learmonth confirmed they are ready to peak when it counts most.
Dunnstown coach Glenn Wilkins said everything seemed to be coming together in terms of cohesion and synergy.
"We started well, That's what we wanted and suddenly we had seven goals on the board (in the first quarter).
"From there with the game on our terms, we were able to keep them at arm's length."
Ryan Walsh made a promising return for Dunnstown - kicking four goals since injuring a shoulder in round six.
Dunnstown 7.2 11.2 15.4 18.7 (115)
Learmonth 3.3 3.6 5.7 8.9 (57)
GOALS - Dunnstown: R.Walsh 4, M.Henderson 3, F.Stevenson 3, K.Dickson 2, T.Wardell 2, J.Leonard 1, B.Murphy 1, D.Simpkin 1, J.Stefani 1; Learmonth: D.Folkes 4, N.Gittings 1, D.Anderson 1, C.Kimber 1, E.Prenc 1
BEST - Dunnstown: B.Leonard, W.Henderson, K.Forde, T.Wardell, J.Stefani, M.Henderson; Learmonth: M.Judd, D.Folkes, T.Hall, N.Gittings, H.Crawley, M.Harbour
BUNINYONG had a what is now little more than a consolation win over Clunes at Buninyong.
The 20-point margin was comfortable enough, but after coming up short in their charge at the top eight all the Bombers can do is start looking toward 2024.
Buninyong took the opportunity to give a couple of youngsters their first test of senior football - 15yo Flynn Batrouney and 17yo Jack Coffey.
Learmonth coach Jake Dunne said it was a disappointing day for the Lakies.
"We were just a little bit too easy play against.. We just let them walk through us defensively," he said.
Learmonth now has a bye before a last outing in round 17.
Buninyong 2.4 5.6 11.10 11.16 (82)
Creswick 2.1 5.4 7.5 9.8 (62)
GOALS - Buninyong: H.Givvens 4, F.Batrouney 2, L.Stewart 2, D.Micallef 1, M.Arnold 1, J.Rodgers 1; Creswick: R.Pearson 3, J.Anagnostou 2, R.Cox 1, D.Whitfield 1, B.Noonan 1, K.Irvan 1
BEST - Buninyong: J.Robertson, D.Micallef, T.Mookhoek, J.Morgan, F.Hunt, H.Donald; Creswick: P.Taranto, D.Whitfield, M.Phillips, J.Anagnostou, W.Preston, R.Cox
NEWLYN did all it had to seal a spot in the finals by defeating Ballan.
Cats coach Marcus Darmody said while not overly impressive, they had achieved what they wanted - a win, to lock in finals.
They were now turn their attention to the finals to ensure they were in best possible shape.
Ballan coach Shannan Broadbent said it had been an improved effort on the previous when beaten by Waubra.
He said he could not have hoped for a better start.
The Blues led by 10 points at quarter time, but fell away after half-time.
Broadbent said the third quarter had been particularly frustrating, with Ballan not scoring.
Newlyn 1.3 6.5 9.10 13.13 (91)
Ballan 3.1 3.5 3.5 5.7 (37)
GOALS - Newlyn: F.Hay 3, C.Currie 3, J.Lee 2, M.Darmody 2, J.Labbett 1, N.Carter 1, F.Lowe 1; Ballan: J.Jarvis 3, K.Heafield 1, S.Crea 1
BEST - Newlyn: C.Currie, J.Labbett, L.Prendergast, D.Fishwick, F.Hay, P.Labbett; Ballan: S.Crea, J.Jarvis, H.Thompson, J.Homewood, T.Laurie, K.Heafield
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