The Demons have slipped from third to fifth after the trip to Merrivale brought their third loss for the season.

The news was much better for the home team, which joined the Demons on four wins but jumped above them to fourth thanks to a better percentage.

It was a come-from-behind victory for the Tigers, who fell as many as six goals behind early in the second half.

But the Tigers persisted and flew home to not only wipe out the deficit but build a six-goal winning margin.

Merrivale had a winning combination in goals with the experienced pairing of Haley Kelson and Danielle McInerney impressing coach Raewyn Poumako.

“Haley had retired but we coaxed her back and this was her third game and her and Danielle play lovely together,” Poumako said.

“Having the two of them in goals really gives us some strong options and they are very accurate when they get the ball.”

While Poumako was thrilled with her forward firepower, she said the key to the win came from an outstanding defensive performance.

Poumako sang the praises of Laura Peake, who played at wing defence.

“Laura was amazing in the last quarter. Her pressure really set the tone for the whole team,” she said.

“She got her hands on so many of their balls going forward and made some great intercepts.

“The whole team really tightened up defensively in the second half and the pressure we created from that changed the game.”

Poumako said the Tigers were keen to put up a good showing after a disappointing loss to Russells Creek the previous week.

There is some good news on the injury front with defender Katie Ryan, who missed Saturday’s game, expected to return after the bye.

For the Demons, the loss was a costly one. A win would have lifted them above the heavily stacked pack that has just one game separating third to ninth.

Coach Hayley Plozza said her team had let an opportunity slip.

“They were able to get a lot of intercepts in the second half and we also made a lot of errors,” Plozza said.

“It would have been nice to be 5-2 but we let it slip and we just had too many turnovers.”