Jack Musgrove, six goals, and Blake Turner, five, were more than the difference Rupanyup needed to knock the Southern Roos from the top of the ladder, and claim a 33-point win.
The result makes this Saturday’s clash between Harrow-Balmoral and Jeparit-Rainbow all the more crucial for the Southern Roos, as a Storm win could see their opponents drop to the bottom of the leading foursome.
This should be the game of the round, as the Storm would eye a big chance to stake a premiership claim here, so expect a good turnout at Harrow Reserve for this one.
Rupanyup can make first-place a surety with a strong win against Natimuk, while Kalkee could add to its percentage with a dominant win against Pimpinio.
In other games, Noradjuha-Quantong welcomes Taylors Lake to Quantong.
A win should do the Bombers good, given the senior squad has now dropped three games in a row, against contending sides Kalkee and Rupanyup, while last Saturday’s loss against a middling Swifts at home would have hurt, too.
The Swifts led the Bombers all day, but never kicked convincingly clear, to claim a solid 23-point win.
Laharum heads out to Kaniva after an inaccurate win against Pimpinio.
The Demons never broke the back of the Tigers, which stayed in the game all day at Cameron Reserve, and no doubt Laharum, which might eye a spot within the midtable, would hope to make it three on the trot this Saturday against the Cougars.
Swifts have Edenhope-Apsley travelling east to Stawell’s North Park for a must win for either side.
Both squads would consider themselves as competitive finals players, but a loss would make that claim harder to push as the season starts to get away from them. In other round-nine games, Kalkee was dominant against Natimuk, with the Kees putting through 32 goals including a blistering 10 goals to none opening quarter of play.
Jeparit-Rainbow was brutal against Taylors Lake, with its 153-point win at Rainbow, as the Storm’s Jay Kirwood added another 10 goals to his season tally.
This week: Noradjuha-Quantong v Taylors Lake, Harrow-Balmoral v Jeparit-Rainbow at Harrow, Kaniva-Leeor United v Laharum, Rupanyup v Natimuk, Swifts v Edenhope-Apsley, Kalkee v Pimpinio.
Last week: Jeparit-Rainbow 28.13 (181) d Taylors Lake 4.4 (28), Kalkee 32.14 (206) d Natimuk 9.6 (60), Swifts 11.12 (78) d Noradjuha-Quantong 9.3 (57), Rupanyup 17.9 (111) d Harrow-Balmoral 11.12 (78), Edenhope-Apsley 27.12 (174) d Kaniva-Leeor United 6.5 (41), Laharum 9.17 (71) d Pimpinio 7.8 (50).
Ladder: Rupanyup 32 points, 223.84 percentage; Harrow-Balmoral 32, 193.87; Kalkee 32, 163.91; Jeparit-Rainbow 28, 227.11; Edenhope-Apsley 20, 186.95; Swifts 20, 154.37; Noradjuha-Quantong 20, 129.13; Laharum 12, 56.31; Natimuk United 52.59; Kaniva-Leeor United 8, 42.17; Pimpinio 4, 48.66; Taylors Lake 0, 32.26.
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