The Rats held off a second half fight back by the home side to record the 14.13 (97) to 10.11 (71) win.

Ararat joint-coach David Hosking said he went into the match with plenty of confidence on the back of two impressive performances from his charges.

"Whilst I was thrilled, I also went into the match expecting to win," he said.

"It's hard when you are in our position and we haven't won too many games, but I thought that we have been playing reasonable footy, we beat Horsham United and then played very well against Horsham."

The longest road trip in Wimmera football didn't seem to faze the young Rats' outfit and Hosking said the way in which his side executed the win was one of the most impressive aspects.

"I think probably the fact that it was workman like The boys stuck at it and kept doing the right things over and over," he said.

"It was a much more consistent effort."

The first quarter was a close affair, with the ball spending the majority of the opening minutes in Nhill's forward-50.

Liam Cavanagh and Zander Laidlaw made the most of their opportunities to kick start Ararat's campaign, while Matt North had an immediate impact when he came onto the ground and helped the Rats hold a five point buffer by the first break.

"The first quarter we were a little slow out of the blocks but we kept working away and eventually got on top," Hosking said.

"I think Northy going on the ground really helped, he provided a tall target for us across half forward and that allowed Ganga (Jack Ganley) to play deeper.

"Jack is very mobile and can take a great mark. I thought he helped get us going, particularly in that first half."

Aaron Searle saw plenty of action in the second term and began a chain of play which resulted in a goal to James Laidlaw midway through the quarter, which extended the margin to 13 points.

Moments later Searle again got Ararat going in the centre, with Jake Williamson scoring his second of the afternoon as the Rats went on the attack.

Hosking said Williamson's repertoire was on full display throughout the match, with the swingman getting the job done in both attack and defence.

"He can play anywhere back, midfield or go forward and kick goals and particularly in a team like ours having a guy like Williamson who can move to different positions when we have a hole to fill is a great luxury," he said.

"The next part of that is that he leads by example and when you send him down back or forward he will show the young boys how to go about it."

Solid work by defenders Nick Maddison and Brady Miller late in the quarter ensured the Rats held a 14-point advantage at halftime, however the visitors were caught napping at the start of the third quarter.

The Tigers pushed forward quickly and although big man William Oakley and goal sneak Ryan Fischer failed to covert within minutes of one another both hitting the goal post Grant McLeod finally broke through to bring the deficit back to within one straight kick.

North restored order for the Rats at the sixth minute mark with his second major, while a nice gather, blind turn and goal on the run from first gamer Corey Billet lifted Ararat's intensity.

Ganley joined the multiple goal kickers' list in the latter stages and two majors to Searle in red time gave the Rats a further boost.

Hosking said he wasn’t too concerned with the Tigers’ charge in the opening minutes of the half and was impressed with Ararat’s ability to move the ball from one end to the other once the team found its feet.

“I was probably annoyed as much as anything,” he said.

“Scruff (Andrew Louder) and I talked about that and knew they’d come out firing same as they did in the first and second quarters. If those two posters had gone through it could have been a completely different footy game.”

Ganley and Billett again added to the scoreboard in the final term, with the Rats eventually running out 26-point winners.

Searle, who has featured among the Rats’ best players seven out of the past eight weeks, was named the top performer.

Hosking said there were several factors that had contributed to the veteran’s purple patch. 

“It comes down to a couple of things. He is in the midfield and likes playing there and we have asked him to position himself behind the ball and it is making a hell of a difference to how the team moves the ball forward,” he said.

“I think during periods of the match when they were in control the main reason they didn’t blow us away was because of those blokes like Searle getting behind the ball.

“Scruff and I have been able to see improvement across the board but it is also really nice to see a score line that reflects that too.

“We are in a little bit of form and if we can take that into this weekend I really think the Warrack game is winnable.”