Port Fairy ended Timboon’s perfect start to the season with a nail-biting victory over Timboon at Terang on Sunday.

The four matches to three result has Port Fairy within sight of a grand final berth.

But team captain Troy Richardson said his side was lucky to escape with the victory against a dogged Timboon, which had entered the match confident after an undefeated start to the season with wins over last year’s winner Colac and grand finalist Warrnambool.

“It was pretty tight, you could have flipped a coin,” Richardson said.

“We had three in each and it was all down to the one match. We were lucky to win, they had one player out injured and we had the strongest team we will have.”

Young Nelson Williams seemed set to give Port Fairy the win, leading one-up against his Timboon opponent Justin Gillin going down to their last hole — the 14th.

But Gillin won the hole and sent the match to sudden death.

Both players were looking at pars on the first extra hole until Gillin’s par putt horse-shoed, gifting the win to Williams and Port Fairy.

Richardson said Williams had been steady under pressure and would take a lot of confidence from the win.

Williams, Richardson (four up with two to play 4/2), Shane Gurnett (two up) and Horsham-based Scott Boschen (4/3) won their matches for Port Fairy.

In a stunning display, Timboon’s leader Alistair Gillin outgunned Port Fairy’s three-time club champion Chris Dunn 6/4. Such was Gillin’s form, he was five under par through 14 holes when he claimed the match, becoming the first to defeat Dunn in 12 appearances for Port Fairy stretching back to the 2012 pennant.

Port Fairy can seal a grand final berth with victory against Warrnambool, regardless of its following week’s final-round clash against Colac while Warrnambool must win to keep its grand final hopes alive.

“Hopefully our home ground advantage might help,” Richardson said.

But with Boschen unavailable, he knows his teammates will have to be at their best.

Warrnambool defeated defending champion Colac 5-2 with Jarrod Fary, club champion Warren Burgess, Nathan Robinson, Chris White and Luke Williams all winning their matches.

In the battle of the two winless sides, Terang defeated Camperdown 4-3, with David Coolahan leading the charge with a 4/3 win over Camperdown’s Nick Lillie.

Port Fairy is clear on top with three wins from three rounds, ahead of Timboon and Warrnambool on two wins, Colac and Terang one each and Camperdown heading into Sunday’s penultimate round at Port Fairy.