Searle was named best afield for his electrifying performance in the Rats' midfield and forward line, which included four critical majors during the third term at a time his team needed a lift.

Coach David Hosking said the 17.8 (110) to 5.8 (38) win was one of Ararat's best of the season so far.

"I thought on the weekend we finally produced somewhere close to the type of football we can play," he said.

"We did a lot of things that we have talked about and practiced, but haven't often executed on game day it all came together.

"I didn't think we had a poor player. I thought everyone did something to contribute at some point and that was one of the most pleasing things."

Hosking put it on his team heading into the rivalry clash to commence well and not allow the Warriors a headstart. The Rats happily obliged with back-to-back goals off the boot of midfielder Jack Ganley to take a 11-point lead into quarter time.

Ararat was impressive at ground level and in the air highlighted by high-flying grabs to Beau Cosson and Alan Batchelor while Zander Laidlaw and Ryan Bates led the charge in a backline which Stawell found hard to break through.

The Warriors eventually worked their way into the contest during the second term, making the most of having an extra player on the field after Rats' full-forward Gordon Laurie received a yellow card midway through the quarter.

Laurie was cited for striking and has accepted a one-match ban.

With tensions simmering, Stawell became undisciplined and a 50-metre penalty allowed Fraser Heard to goal and close Ararat's deficit to one point at halftime.

"Stawell made the most of its chances whereas we probably didn't in the second quarter, although I think the goals they got seemed a little fortuitous," Hosking said.

"Put it this way, we went into halftime a point down but I wasn't too stressed.

"Our third quarters have been bad so that was in the back of my mind, but I also felt that the effort levels, the stats I was looking at and just my gut feel of the game was that we were tracking okay."

Hosking said one area that did concern him was the clearance count, which was heavily in favour of the Warriors. He identified Searle as the man to fix the problem in a move that turned the game on its head.

The opening bounce of the third quarter was telling, with Xavier Vearing's tap work helping the Rats win the ball and allowed Cosson to get on the receiving end. Despite the missed shot, Hosking said it was a good sign to start the second half.

"I went to Searle and said that I wanted him to go into the midfield and help with the clearances," he said.

"It improved almost immediately with him and Robbo (Jake Robinson) being particularly good. That put Stawell under pressure straight away."

Two goals to Cosson and one to Laurie for the term were side shows to Searle’s heroics, but all contributed to Ararat leading by 41 points at the final change.

The Rats didn’t take their foot off the pedal during the fourth quarter and managed another seven goals, although some of the scoreline blow out could be attributed to the Warriors’ lack of discipline.

“They’d had some pretty good performances going into this match — Dimboola had only just beaten them, same with Minyip/Murtoa, they’d run Horsham really close to only trail them by 11 points at three-quarter-time and they were in touching distance of the top five,” Hosking said.

“All those factors, plus the fact our form hadn’t been particularly startling would suggest they would’ve been thinking ‘this is a game we can win’.

“When all of that went south I think frustration crept in and they started to do some undisciplined things.”

Hosking said there were plenty of positives out of the win including Riley Taylor’s continued form and Brady Miller’s successful return to defence, where he kept Warriors’ key forward James Delahunty goalless.

One disappointment however was an injury to Jake Williamson, which will see him sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken hand.

The Rats are now three games clear in fourth place on the ladder, with the second half of the split round nine to be played at the weekend.

Hosking said he is unsure if the bye has come at a good time for his side.

“It is what it is. I would have preferred to climb straight into the Horsham sides with this momentum behind us, but at the same time guys like Micky Fratin who is 34-years-old and a few other blokes could certainly do with a spell,” he said.

The Ararat Football-Netball Club announced late last week that it had parted ways with senior assistant coach David Brady.

In a statement released to the media, Rats’ president Billy Bell stated: “Unfortunately David Brady was unable to commit to our club at the required level, as a consequence David has returned to the East Point Football Club”.

The club said it would not be making further comment.