The Dogs made the most of a home-ground advantage to defeat the Power 15.11 (101) to 7.4 (46) on Saturday.

The victory lifted the Dogs to fifth place and relegated the Power to sixth, due to an inferior percentage.

Coming into the game after two losses, the Dogs got back in winning form with the return of a number of stars helping lead the way.

Onballers Jordan Greene, Dustin McCorkell and Chris Vickery made an immediate impact on their return to the team to give the Dogs an edge through the middle.

Dennington coach Ben Parkinson, who was also one of the inclusions in his first game for the season, said the win was a good result.

“We put a lot of focus into winning this game. We have lost games against teams around us on the ladder so we needed to win this,” Parkinson said.

“It was an even contest in the first quarter and we dominated the second, which set the win up.”

The Dogs led by 49 points at half-time, before the Power reduced the margin to 31 points at three-quarter-time.

But a five-goal-to-one last quarter from the Dogs sealed the result and has given them momentum heading into a clash this week against second-placed Allansford.

“If we bring our A game we are confident we can match it with Allansford,” Parkinson said.

“We can’t afford to have a lapse against them. They kicked another big score today so we have to apply a lot of midfield pressure and focus on going one on one with them.”

Another positive sign for the Dogs is the form of full- forward Andrew Niklaus, who for the second game in a row kicked four goals.

Michael Sleeman was the star performer for the Power, while Luke Kenna was their only multiple goal scorer with two. The Power have dropped out of the top five and have a task to get back, with a home game against Merrivale on the rebound this week.

The Timboon Demons won their second game of the season with a successful journey to Mack Oval on Saturday.

The Demons defeated Russells Creek by 47 points thanks to another brilliant performance from swing man Andrew Blake.

Normally a defender, Blake went into the game with a niggling injury and played forward, showing his class with two goals and a best-on-ground performance.

Timboon Demons coach Brendan Hickey said the win was a good performance. “We went into the game knowing it was a winnable game but I’m sure Russells Creek thought the same,” he said. 

“We focused on the job ahead and the fact it wasn’t going to be easy and we were able to put in a really even team effort, which showed we were ready to go.”

In other games, Allansford prevailed in a game against Nirranda that produced 42 goals.

The Cats won by 41 points, with onballer Sam Holloway kicking four goals.

An 11-goal haul from full-forward Chris Chambers was the catalyst for a 119-point victory for Old Collegians over East Warrnambool.