Ararat Rats hold their nerve to take down Horsham Saints | Photos

The Rats played out a hard fought contest against the Horsham Saints at Alexandra Oval and held their nerve to clinch a narrow seven point win, 12.8 (80) to 11.7 (73).

The Rats looked a long way off the pace in round one when they were beaten convincingly by the Warriors on Good Friday, but since then they have shown dramatic improvement with three wins now on the board.

On the day the Rats started slowly and trailed at quarter-time by nine points, but by half-time they had clawed themselves back in front of the Saints.

Ararat senior coach Matt Walder said his team handled the pressure of the tight game well.

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"It was a battle of two young squads and at the end of the day our young squad just held firm for a little bit longer," he said

"The Horsham Saints got out to a better start than we did and we responded really well and took the lead in the second quarter.

"Once we got our noses in front we were never headed on the day. Having said that we were challenged quite a few times and it did get tight towards the end.

"They never got within two goals and we were able to defend pretty valiantly in the because they were pressing pretty hard.

"Our tackling pressure was up compared to previous weeks and we also had a better ability to control the ball."

"At the end of the day our boys stood up really well.

Corey Taylor led the way up forward with six goals and Nicholas Oliver also snagged two.

Henry Shea, Corey Taylor and Brody Griffin were all named in the Rats' best, helping the side to another win.

On the netball court Ararat claimed a big win as they took down the Saints by 20 goals.

The Rats started strongly and led by 13 goals at the halftime break, before pulling away in the second half.

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The Horsham Saints had been on a three game winning streak in the A Grade and were looking like a finals fancy, but the Rats stepped up on the day to score their second win of the season.

Both the netballers and footballers will want to continue on their winning form with a trip north against the struggling Nhill in round seven.

Nhill are winless in the A Grade and in the senior football, but on their home deck the Rats will need to be up to the challenge.

Round seven fixtures

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