THE Ararat Rats stood tall on the big stage of Alexandra Oval to defeat arch rival Stawell in what proved to be challenging conditions on Saturday night.
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For the second week in a row Ararat faced a windy setting, with scoring heavily favoured to one end of the ground, but the workhorse effort by the home side saw them build a gradual lead throughout the wet Anzac Day blockbuster to eventually claim a 29-point win 10.16 (76) to 6.11 (47).
Kicking with the breeze in the first term the Rats got away to a solid start, with onballer Jake Robinson scoring the first major of the night.
Ararat coach David Hosking said despite missing some 'gettable shots', he was happy with his team's ability to trap the ball in the Rats' forward half throughout the quarter.
"With the ball being down that end for large chunks of time, we were generating scoring shots. We missed a few, but the fact that we were generating them was good," he said.
"I've said it before, midfielders that can kick goals, they are gold and Jake does that. He was good again, he is rarely ever going to be poor because he just a quality player.
"The thing with Jake is he's not particularly big in stature, but he plays big he's very strong and hard to get off the ball, he's quick and he hurts teams on the scoreboard."
Ararat had opened up a 38-point lead by quarter time after holding the Warriors scoreless, however the visitors made the most of the conditions during the second term and got an early goal on the board.
The Rats then steadied and with Jake Williamson and Brady Miller reliable on the last line of defence, the side was again able to dictate play, which dried up Stawell's scoring chances.
Runners Tom Williamson and Riley Taylor gave the Rats plenty of drive forward on numerous occasions which led to eight inside-50s during the quarter and put the Warriors' defenders under constant pressure.
"I thought we played smart footy. Our backline stood up well, our midfield worked hard defensively too and we remarked from the bench how much better we looked at stoppages than we had done in a while," Hosking said.
The Rats again held Stawell scoreless during the third term, while booting a further five goals to take a 56-point lead into the final change.
Beau Cosson (four goals) was the chief destroyer during the premiership quarter, while ruckman Justin Summons was again having a massive impact for the Rats around the ground.
Hosking said he was thrilled with Summons' efforts and also acknowledged first gamer Gordon Laurie, who provided a target and contest whenever the ball was sent forward.
"Someone forgot to tell Justin that it was wet and windy," he said.
"He was clunking marks like it was a dry day. I think Gordon will be better for the run because conditions didn't really suit him he still did some good work though but Juzzy (Summons) was just fantastic as a hit up option.
"I thought it was a reasonable battle in the centre (with Stawell ruckman, Luke Hendy), but when it came to around the ground Justin clearly won.
"Centre bounces Luke probably stood out because he has a fantastic, athletic leap, but having said that I don't think he was really hurting us. The stats were telling us that we were still winning the centre clearances.
"The other thing was Juzzy might have got rolled in a few, but he didn't lose them all and more often that not if he didn't win the tap himself he would neutralise it."
As the heavy conditions began to take their toll on Ararat's players during the final quarter, the Warriors managed to reel the margin back in slightly.
Despite Stawell kicking four unanswered goals, Hosking said under the circumstances he wasn't overly disappointed with his team's finish to the match.
“Our last quarter was our worst, but we had rolled the dice a bit in the previous three in leaving a settled team on the park and so we knew blokes would be out on their feet,” he said.
“I think we’d done enough early to allow for that and a few of their goals in the last were a little bit fortuitous. They also scored a lot in what I would call ‘junk time’.”
Despite victory in the senior football, Stawell claimed back the Perce Bushby Cup on aggregate thanks largely to the Warriors’ big win in A grade netball.
See Friday’s edition of The Ararat Advertiser for full details.