It certainly wasn't the prettiest match of the season, but the Warriors didn't care after recording their seventh senior victory of 2019 on Saturday.
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Stawell took on Horsham at Central Park on a beautiful day for football. A breeze began blowing across the ground at the start of the senior contest, making an impact on foot skills of both sides.
It was the home team that made the better start, controlling the majority of the play but failing to convert in front of goal.
The Demons capitalised on Stawell's overuse of the football, scoring on transition to trail by just three points at half-time.
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The Warriors slowly pulled ahead as the game wore on, keeping Horsham goalless in both the second and fourth quarters.
Despite failing to play far from their best football, Stawell managed to finish ahead of the understrength Demons 7.12 (54) to 3.3 (21).
"All round it was just a scrappy game but we're happy to get away with the four points," Stawell coach Damian Joiner said.
"We went away from went away from our gameplay a bit and got caught in the scrap but you could see when we scored that's when our style of footy came through.
"Our back six were massive, to keep Horsham to three goals is a great achievement. Paul Summers was part of that, he played the best game for the club I have seen."
Stawell managed to win the game despite limited rotations from the bench, with both Tom Taurau and John McIntyre sitting out for the majority of the match with injuries.
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"They both had muscle injuries which we will assess. Those guys dropping out early meant a lot of boys had a lot more to do," Joiner said.
"To our credit we were able to cover them. Charlie Nield in particular did a great job in the ruck all day."
Cody Driscoll extended his lead at the top of the league goalkicking table with another four goals to move his tally to 34. Tom Eckel also bagged two in another impressive performance.
Joiner coached from the sidelines for the contest, sitting out with a "niggle".
"I should be right for next week," he said.
"Coaching from the boundary is a completely new view on things for me. It was pretty nerve wracking. I have to say I prefer doing it on the field."
The Warriors consolidated third spot on the ladder with the victory, sitting one win behind second-placed Ararat and one win ahead of fourth-placed Southern Mallee Giants.
They also created a crucial three-win buffer between them and the sixth-placed Demons, all but guaranteeing them a spot in the finals.
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