The Roosters pulled off a 35-34 win over the Eagles at Friendly Societies’ Park on Saturday. When the teams last met in round four it was the Eagles who were on the right side of a one-goal win. The victory was the Roosters’ fourth in a row and keeps them in fourth place, a game clear of the three teams directly below them. 

South Warrnambool coach Susan Pettigrew said it was a hard fought win.

"It was really tight game, the defensive pressure from both teams across four quarters made it so close," Pettigrew said.

"It was a game that could have gone either way, they were so tight early and it rattled us a bit but we were able to turn that around and finish well."

The Eagles led by two goals at half-time but thanks to drive from Darcy Wilson in the centre the Roosters were able to get their noses in front. The home team had a one goal lead going into the final minute of the game, a margin they were able to maintain after a long range shot from the Eagles just missed the mark.

Eagles coach Jody Roth said it was a missed opportunity for her team.

"The game was there for the taking, we had a good first half but fell away after that, we let South get into our heads," Roth said.

"They capitalised on our turnovers, it was a great game that could have gone either way but we will learn a lot from it.

“Full credit to South Warrnambool, like us they are a young team and it was a good reward for them.

“We will learn from the loss, more than we would have if we had got the win.”

In other round 13 games, Terang Mortlake had a successful trip to Cobden when it snapped a two-game losing streak. The Bloods defeated the Bomber 54-20 with 35 goals from Katie O’Keefe laying the foundation for victory. Not only was getting the four points important for Terang Mortlake, the final margin was also a key factor in the bigger picture. The Bloods are in third place with eight wins, the same as South Warrnambool, but with a percentage break of 19 points.      

Warrnambool nearly caused one of the upsets of the season when they pushed Portland all the way. The Blues carried momentum from their first win of the season the previous week to take it right up to the Tigers. At half-time Portland looked like it was cruising to an easy win when it led 22-15 but the Blues stormed back to close the gap to 28-26 at the final break. The Tigers held firm and at the final whistle were in front 37-35 with coach Kerri Jennings and shooter Tayla Falconer among the leading lights for the winners. For the Blues, Anna Buzolich was prominent while Marlie Boyd led the scoring with 16 goals.