The Dogs stood tall in the match of the round against premiership favourite Nirranda, as it inflicted the Blues with their first loss of the season after 13 rounds.

Coach Melissa Burt said the seven-goal win was a timely boost as finals fast approach.

"We were quite nervous heading into the game,” she said.

“But now we know exactly what we can do, and I think there is a real confidence about the team.

“So hopefully we continue that and push our way through finals.”

Dennington is keeping a lid on things despite understanding the importance and benefits of the victory.

Burt said it was not just the scoreline she was impressed with.

“We are aware Nirranda had a couple of outs, we had a couple of outs also. So it will definitely be a different game when we meet in finals,” she said.

"But we are really stoked and happy to come away with the win.

"We were really happy with how we played, it was a tight tussle and could have gone either way.

"I think the main thing was we were able to put four quarters together, which we have been struggling to do.

“But we really banded together as a team, every did their own job and did it well and for the full four quarters.”

Heading into the match the Dogs knew they had to quell the influence of Nirranda coach and star shooter Stephanie Townsend as it would be crucial if they were to win.

Dennington had some success with stopping Townsend from dominating, though she still managed to net 18 goals for the match.

Kristie Bolden was a standout for the Dogs as she produced a stellar performance, while Nirranda also found it tough to stop Lana Keane with the goalie causing plenty of headaches.