The perennial Mininera and District league cellar dwellers will head into Saturday’s clash with reigning premier Lismore-Derrinallum with more hope than they have been afforded in recent years, knowing they can finally beat the top sides.

With wins against Ararat, Great Western and Caramut already to their name, the Tigers entered last weekend’s clash against ladder leader Penshurst with growing self-belief.

By the end of the four quarters, it must have been brimming over as they belted out the club song, having defeated the Bombers 15.6 (94) to 8.14 (62).

Tigers coach Tim MacDonald (pictured) said the need to get off to a strong start – they kicked six goals to Penshurst’s two – had been a focus heading into the game.

“The last few weeks we haven’t started well in first quarters, and we made an emphasis of making sure we started well,” he said.

“They definitely had a few of their quality players out, which helped, but the ball just fell our way.”

The win was Woorndoo-Mortlake’s fourth and put them just two wins and percentage outside the five.

The Tigers can start to bridge the gap if they can claim another scalp this weekend in fifth-placed side Lismore-Derrinallum.

“Last year they really beat us comfortably twice,” MacDonald said.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to make up to play four quarters against them.

“Going forward, we’ve got two tough games. Confidence is good, but in another way, it doesn’t make those teams any easier to beat.”