Ouyen United has climbed to the top of the league ladder after a convincing win over the Southern Mallee Giants.

The Demons ran over top of a determined Giants in the last quarter to win by a comfortable 43 points. It wasn't always easy going for Ouyen United. The Giants battled hard for 3 quarters to stay in touch, but it seemed the Demons were always in control.

Poor kicking in the first quarter allowed the Giants to be level going into the first break. Demons' new recruit Colin Keatch was providing excellent rebound off half back and got forward to kick a goal. Keatch fell heavily from a spectacular mark late in the first quarter and pulled up sore, unfortunately fading out of the game from then on.

Aaron Morrish and Andrew Jardine stood up in his absence and didn't allow any easy contests for the Giants up forward.

Zac Robins was doing his best in a great battle with Brad Vallance at the other end. The Giants defence lost the support of David Baulch early in the game after straining a hamstring.

The game provided many physical contests. Ouyen's strength and agility showed out and enabled them to break many tackles. Dean Staunton and Henry Armour were amongst the players to win these contests and deliver neatly to their forwards without too much pressure.

Coming into the last quarter it was anyone's game. Simon Cook was thrown into the ruck with immediate impact. The Giants kicked the first goal to be within a kick. However it was all Ouyen United from then on, kicking 7 of the next 8 goals to run away with the game. Kale Barker chipped in late to finish with three goals and Laurence Angwin four.

Woomelang Lascelles have notched up their first win of the season, prevailing by 56 points against Walpeup Underbool.

The Roos received a stern pre-game address to try and inspire an effort to get their first win on the board. It may have been enough to get them the first goal of the game through Kane Munro, however they fell away after this.

The Cats kicked 10 of the next 11 goals to be in command throughout the game. The Roos provided some resistance in the third quarter kicking 3 goals to 2. Benjamin Fisher kicked 2 of these and was starting to influence the game along with other experienced heads Shane Birss, Kane Munro and Luke Nathan. This was never going to be enough to get them back in the game.

Pierce Liddle was in everything and impressed with his attack on the ball. He was ably supported by Arnold Kirby and Charles McAdam, new players to an already strong Cats team. These players are going to prove hard to match up on for opposition teams this season.

The Cats have strength all over the ground. They again provided many avenues to goal. Jayden Lonergan was the major goal kicker with 4, but they had 7 other players contribute.

The Cats showed the Roos clean heals, moving the ball cleanly by hand in foot. This is exactly what has let Walpeup Underbool down this season. If they can fix this problem they will start getting themselves into games.

Next week will complete the first full round of games and give us an early indicator of who will be shaping up as the teams to beat. A strong performance like this one from Woomelang Lascelles certainly suggests they are going to be one of these teams.

By Dale Shannon