The Power set up a top-of-the-table showdown with Allansford this weekend after upstaging the Warriors 11.12 (78) to 8.6 (54) at Davidson Oval on Saturday.

The win came despite the Power conceding the first five goals of the match, kicking into a stiff southerly gale. It trailed 5.1 to 0.2 at quarter-time.

“We showed a lot of character and resilience,” Finn said. “We’ve got our own set of values and behaviours and they’re not too dissimilar from the Anzac ones.

“We did refer to them continuously throughout the day. The spirit we showed, to have that belief to come from five or six goals down, it was a super effort.

“The president was telling me they’ve had super teams been undefeated here before and got rolled. We’re going OK at the moment.”

Finn was particularly rapt with a miserly third quarter, which paved the way for a late rush of goals.

After copping the early blitz, Kolora-Noorat returned fire with five goals in 16 minutes to start the second term — three of which came from free kicks.

But Old Collegians grabbed the next two to finish strongly. Goals were hard to come by at the southern end and the Warriors had a precious pair.

They led 7.1 to 5.6 at half-time and, with 30 minutes with the wind at their backs to come, the contest was at their mercy. The Power had other ideas.

In a clinical example of how to play into the gale, the visitors dropped spare men back and unashamedly turned the term into a stalemate.

Joe O’Sullivan, Ben Kenna, Jono Gleeson and Paul McSween took uncontested marks in defence, repelling repeated forays forward. The Warriors had a four-goal breeze at their backs but managed only four behinds. The Power countered with two goals late, through Mark Clissold and Martin Wynd.

“I think we had two (spare men) at most today. Their job isn’t just to be defensive, it’s to be used on the way out and they were able to do that,” Finn said.

“We were able to hit the scoreboard in that third quarter. For blokes to change the way they went about it and follow instructions, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

Such was the strength of the wind, the final quarter was almost a fait accompli before it started.

Clissold sealed the match with two more goals and finished with three. His influence was sporadic and in bursts, but decisive and timely.

Others players were more consistent and deserved the post-match plaudits. O’Sullivan and Ben Kenna were enormous in defence, as was Justin Hicks.

Joe Conheady and Joe Kenna led the midfield. Matt Harkin was ever-present without being damaging. Gleeson kicked two goals and was just as influential down back.

For the Warriors, Chris Chambers booted three first-term goals and battled with limited supply.

Josh Dwyer and Jack Dunkley were the pick of the onballers while undersized ruck pair Daniel Weel and Vinnie Fogarty worked hard around the ground.

Coach Daryl Beechey was also pleased with Jacob Lacy, who tagged Clissold and enhanced his reputation to half-time.

“I was happy with the way he went. Clissold is obviously a good player, one of the best in the league. Lacy is still only 20,”  Beechey said.

“I thought he played better when he got the chance to come over the top ... I thought he did a good job, and it’ll be a good learning curve for him as well.”

But that positive couldn’t overshadow the coach’s disappointment with how little fight the Warriors showed after quarter-time.

“We started well but that’s about where it ended. We spoke about a four-quarter effort and it was nowhere near that today,” he said.

“On a day of such significance, I was pretty disappointed not to see them put together four quarters of footy.”

Exacerbating the defeat, Old Collegians onballer Jimmy McKenzie could face a stint on the sidelines after injuring a hamstring in the third term. McKenzie limped from the field with the aide of a trainer.

afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au