Turvey Park sprung one of the upsets of the season by downing ladder leaders Wagga Tigers by seven points on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs have shown glimpses of brilliance all season and produced their best four-quarter effort of the year to upstage their arch-rivals 6.9 (45) to 5.8 (38) in a dour battle at Robertson Oval.
There was little between the two teams all day in wet and cold conditions before Clint Shields kicked the only two goals of the third term to put Turvey Park seven points up at three-quarter-time.
When Bulldogs teenager Pat Voss kicked the first goal of the final quarter four minutes in, Turvey Park had established a 16-point buffer.
Tigers finished strongly and peppered the goals late but the lead proved enough as the visitors held on for a well-deserved seven-point win.
Turvey Park co-coach Mark Carroll was delighted for his young team that they finally landed a 'scalp' after threatening to do so for much of the year.
"The boys have been fantastic all year and today was just great to get that reward for effort," Carroll said.
"That was probably the first time we've played four quarters and we're just starting, the last couple of weeks, is the first time all year we've had blokes come into the team and not many go out so we've had a bit of continuity the last two or three weeks and that helped today, there's no doubt.
"They deserve it. I had a good feeling. I knew they were going to take a big scalp before the year was out and they don't get any bigger than that today."
Turvey Park co-coach Jeremy Sykes led from the front with a brilliant display, while Luke Cuthbert made a surprise early return from injury to also play an influential role in the midfield.
Nathan Byrne was superb in the ruck for Turvey Park, while Josh Ashcroft was strong in defence.
The loss could have significant ramifications for Wagga Tigers. They are likely to drop from top spot with just two rounds remaining and now must beat Coolamon next weekend to remain in the hunt for the minor premiership.
The win does not change much, ladder wise, for seventh-placed Turvey Park. But what it means for their season and the future cannot be underestimated, according to Carroll.
"It's just good to get the win because now they know that things are working and you get a win like that and all of a sudden they could go from strength to strength," he said.
"That everything's working well and everything's going okay rather than keep giving heaps of effort all of the time and coming up short. It drains it out of you but that win gives you energy and can give you energy for a long time.
To make matters worse for Tigers, Tom Keogh was injured in the loss.
Brendy Myers was superb in defeat for Tigers, while Josh Gaynor provided a strong target up forward and finished with three goals.
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