A TERANG Mortlake forward is reaping the rewards of his side's improvement in recent weeks.
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Stephen Staunton kicked six goals in the Bloods' 12.7 (79) to 8.16 (64) upset victory over Camperdown.
The win was the Michael Sargeant-led side's second in three weeks after defeating Cobden by 10 points in round eight.
Sargeant said the Bloods' big man, who has kicked 14 goals in his past three appearances playing predominantly deep in attack, was benefiting from improved ball movement into the forward line.
"Our efficiency has been good when going inside 50 after our forwards had been starved of entries and rare opportunities with good teams playing well against us," he said.
"To the boys' credit, once we have started winning more ball around the contest we have been getting more opportunities to score goals.
"They have now got a blueprint and they have worked really hard so to their credit their work is started to pay off and they are getting to see the fruits of that now."
Sargeant said his side would be significantly boosted by the victory, in which saw it kick its highest score of the year.
"This has given them the confidence that they know our best is good enough to beat teams," he said.
"It's not quite with the top sides at the moment but we are bridging the gap compared to the earlier rounds.
"But we have got to get better again against the top sides. We are getting pretty close to a level where we can match it."
Sargeant sad the Bloods, who jumped past Portland into eighth and are now within one game of Hamilton Kangaroos, were driven by the disappointing start to the season.
"The really big thing for our playing group is they have been training hard and were trying do everything right but just weren't getting rewarded," he said.
"It was deflating but more wins will give an even bigger boost to our moral."
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Camperdown's quest to return to the top five took a hit with the defeat placing them eight points adrift of fifth-placed South Warrnambool and Port Fairy, who moved above them after it won their encounter.
Co-coach Neville Swayn said his side had lost its main driving force during the 15-point loss and would need to address it before facing Koroit next weekend.
"Our pressure wasn't there and we have been impressed with it over the last month," the first-year mentor said.
"It dropped and Terang took advantage of it. You can't drop off with pressure at any stage, no matter who you are playing, and we learnt that."
Swayn conceded his side would need to address its goal kicking accuracy, after having five more scoring shots than the Bloods.
Despite the tough loss, Swayn was pleased to see his side's injury-plagued vice-captain return from a hamstring strain.
"It was good to have 'Fieldsy' (Matt Field) back in," he said. "He was good early and it's really positive he was able to get through."
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