WHEN it comes to deciding finals positions after round 18, Newtown & Chilwell could look back on Saturday's win as the match that set up its season.
The Eagles blew away St Mary's in a scintillating third quarter onslaught, kicking 6.4 to one behind, before running out 12.13 (85) to 8.7 (55) winners.
Sitting comfortably inside the top-five, Newtown & Chilwell coach Jacob Spolding said the win was crucial in the context of their season.
"To win today was massive, we stressed that before the game and the boys responded which was fantastic," Spolding said.
"There's a belief here at the footy club this year that may not have been here for a while and the boys are just responding magnificently."
While it was all good news for Newtown and Chilwell the same cannot be said for its opponent St Mary's as its season now hangs by a thread.
The club's coach Daniel Fletcher is now searching for answers to his team's lapses in concentration this season.
"If you've got any ideas let me know, we've tried a few things but just mentally I suppose to be consistent for the whole time and when you're not doing it you lose confidence," he said.
"When things go a bit wayward then everyone seems to drop away, so it's just up to us and the group to knuckle down."
Meanwhile an uninspiring Colac outfit moved into the top five after holding out St Albans to win 13.17 (95) to 13.8 (86).
"It puts us back in a bit of contention with the other sides, but we've still got a lot of areas we need to work on in our game," Tigers' coach Matt Gibson said.
"We've got to tidy up some things, just in order to make the game easier for ourselves."
In other matches Geelong West-St Peter's caused the upset of the round, knocking off Leopold 13.12 (90) to 9.17 (71).
The Roosters now find themselves in seventh place and one of five sides placed at 3-5.
St Joseph's defeated its traditional bogey side Grovedale 22.20 (152) to 10.3 (63) thanks an unbelievable 13-goal haul by best-on-ground Luke Forbes.
South Barwon key forward Clinton Wells' rich vein of form continued, bagging seven goals to spearhead his side to a monster 22.9 (141) to 6.11 (47) win over Lara.
Finally, North Shore received a silver lining to its 10.9 (69) to 24.13 (157) thrashing at the hands of Bell Park with some welcome news on gun midfielder James Byrne.
The former VFL premiership captain's hand injury sustained in the first half of Saturday's 88-point loss is not as bad as first thought
Last Modified on 16/01/2012 12:18