Diggers Rest received a shock on Saturday, jumped at the start by Rupertswood and falling to its worst loss of the Riddell Football League season.
Sitting second on the ladder coming into the important contest, and with just one loss in 2017, the reigning premiers never recovered from an opening quarter onslaught that saw the Sharks slam home seven goals from 11 scoring shots. It would be the catalyst for a 17.11 (113) – 6.9 (45) loss for Diggers Rest.
The Burras’ contained the home side in the second quarter as both sides kicked three goals, but the visitors would not get any closer for the rest of the day.
The Sharks lost Sean Hetherington to concussion just before half-time, but it did little to stifle their attacking prowess. In a forgettable second half for the premiers, Diggers Rest managed just one goal after the long break as they watched the home side stretch out to a percentage boosting win, leapfrogging them into second place in the process.
Josh Wallace and Tom Taylor both toiled hard for the visitors, but in the end the hosts were too strong and had too many avenues to goal on the day.
The Burras slipped to third on percentage following the loss and will now face unbeaten Macedon this week.
Rockbank had a day it would rather forget as it squandered a strong start against Romsey before going down by 94-points.
The Rams more than held their own in the early stages, keeping the home side to a single goal in the first quarter while kicking four straight themselves to hold a 13-point lead at the first change.
However, from there it was all the Redbacks, with Rockbank adding just one goal in the second quarter and none after half-time. Conversely, Romsey slammed on 17.15 after quarter-time to run away with a dominant 18.20 (128) – 5.4 (34) win.
Finally, Melton Centrals had a similarly disappointing afternoon hosting Riddell, going down by 81 points.
Much like Rockbank, Centrals were able to keep the margin tight in the early stages but struggled to contain their opponents after quarter-time.
Riddell held a nine-point lead at the first change but had stretched that beyond 40 points by the long break. It eventually took the four points with a 16.16 (112) – 4.7 (31) win.
Centrals this week play Woodend-Hesket, while Rockbank will travel to play Sunbury Kangaroos.
