A MASSIVE third-quarter power surge saw South Mildura blow by Merbein and solidify their place in the top five of the A Grade competition in chilly, drizzly conditions at the Kenny Park courts.
Locked on four wins apiece going into the crucial encounter between finals hopefuls, the Magpies seemed to have things well in hand at half-time with a four-goal lead.
Then, the Bulldogs turned what had been an extremely scrappy affair into a near-masterclass as they piled on 17 goals while holding Merbein to a mere seven.
It flipped the game and set up their fifth straight win of the season to move a useful four points clear of the Pies for fifth on the ladder.
“We are so stoked. We are pretty excited to have won that game,” South Mildura coach Tara Bate said.
“We were a bit iffy about what was going to happen and the rain didn’t help at all … our spirits were down a little bit there in the first half and we made some silly turnovers. We just had to refocus and that was what we did.
“Everyone readjusted to the weather and realised what they had to do. Our shooter (Amy Lutze) came out and did her job; like she usually does … she just lifted and it lifted the rest of the girls as well.
“In defence, Ellen (Brewster) and Regan (Zaxos) did a great job with putting that pressure on.”
For the hosts, it seemed like an opportunity missed.
“It was just the third quarter,” Merbein coach Breigh Hammet said.
“That was the only one we lost. We won the first, won the second and drew the fourth.
“It was that third quarter and these are the things we keep discussing. For some reason they got the first couple of goals in that quarter and we just put our heads down and played a totally different game.
“We reverted back to bad habits. It’s just one bad quarter but that can cost you a game. It’s a maturity thing. We do three or four good things on the court and it’s still flat, then the other team does three or four good things and we go like, ‘oh, we are done’.
“What could have been a two or three-minute bad patch became that whole quarter.”
The Sophies, Kroehn and Gray, were named the Pies’ best while Lutze and Brewster took the honours for the Dogs.
