Diggers Rest isn’t planning on taking the foot off the pedal after going one step closer to claiming the Riddell District Football League minor premiership.
For the second time this season, the Burras proved too strong in the top of the table clash with Riddell.
This time the Burras set the win up in the first quarter.
Kicking five goals to one with the breeze they were able to maintain that lead through the next two quarters.
While the Bombers came hard late, the Burras were able to steady and come away with a 15.9 (99)-11.11 (77) win.
Burras coach Shaun Campbell said these were the sort of matches that they looked forward to.
“It’s a good spot to be in,” he said. “You always want to be involved in the games with the top teams and test yourselves before finals.
“It’s a timely reminder of the quality side that they are.”
Campbell said they used the breeze well early on to set up the lead before strong defending kept the Bombers at bay the next couple of quarters.
He said the Bombers threw everything at them late, but they were able to hold on.
“It was a good quality performance as a team,” Campbell said. “We don’t want to rely on our back end of games.
“We’ve been able to start well and finish strongly and maintain it through the middle period.”
Campbell and Jaidyn Caruana kicked three goals each for the Burras.
The coach said they had a theme of a lot of contributors at the same time and it was the case again on Saturday.
He said they could have thrown a blanket over 10 to 15 of them. Campbell highlighted Tye Browning, Ryan Mullen, Brad Sluggett and Caruana as some of the standouts.
The Burras now sit half a game clear at the top of the ladder ahead of the Bombers, but have played one less game.
Campbell said they still have to continue to get better and keep on building.
He said he had been debating about how to approach the last month of the season.
“It’s a good spot to be in and we don’t want to be losing momentum,” he said.
“We want to try and maintain the momentum. I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours.
“You don’t want to lose to others and give them a sniff or that psychological benefit.
“We’ll look to keep doing what we have been doing.”
The Burras this Saturday face Woodend-Hesket, which is coming off two straight wins.
It’s the first time the teams will play each other for the season.
In other results, Melton South is in a fight for a finals spot after another loss, this time to Romsey.
The Redbacks led narrowly at each of the breaks as they won, 10.9 (69)-7.13 (55).
The Panthers sit in sixth spot, with just two points separating fourth and seventh.
