Border Mail |RAND-WALBUNDRIE awoke from an early season slumber to notch its third consecutive victory, downing Holbrook at Walbundrie on Saturday.
Pressure was starting to mount on the Tigers finals credentials after starting the season 1-4.
But their 12.12 (84) to 8.9 (57) win over the Brookers enabled the Tigers to square the ledger.
They can build further momentum with coming matches against Billabong Crows, Walla and Culcairn who occupy the bottom three rungs on the ladder.
After a slow start to the season, Eastlake recruits Jake Gumley and Ben Maiden have found form and been instrumental in the Tigers climbing to eighth on the ladder.
Tigers coach Daniel Athanitis was relieved to emerge with the four points after the Brookers had upset the defending premier, Henty, the previous week.
"We rated Holbrook as a real danger game and knew we would have to be somewhere near our best to get the job done," Athanitis said.
"It puts us back to a 4-4 record and only four points outside the top six.
"We have definitely improved over the past month but it has still been a struggle to get the same team on the park each week with injuries."
In other matches, Jarrod Hillary booted 11 goals as Brock-Burrum thumped Walla by 121 points while Henty also enjoyed a percentage-boosting win after trouncing Billabong Crows by 122 points.
Howlong proved too strong for Lockhart, winning by 37 points, while Osborne kept Culcairn scorless in the opening half on its way to an 81-point win.
