The Demons got off to a great start in wet conditions kicking five goals to none during the opening quarter and ran out 8.12 (60) to 8.8 (56) winners over the Goannas.

Demons co-coach Nick Perryman said his side was glad to get the four points after what was a fantastic game of footy between two top-quality sides.

"It was a good game of footy in the wet," Perryman said.

"But it's good to get the four points against a top side in Mango who have been playing really well.

"We are just happy with the result."

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The Demons started hot out of the blocks at a damp Mangoplah Sportsground kicking five goals to none during a dominant first quarter with Collingullie taking a 32-point lead into the first break.

The Goannas lifted in the second with Trent Castles and Nelson Foley both hitting the scoreboard to reduce the margin to as low as five-points at one stage before a couple of late goals to Matt Klemke and Harry Wichman gave the Demons a 12-point half-time lead.

The third quarter was a contested slog between the two sides with the only goal of the quarter coming at the 17 minute mark when Trent Cohalan kicked a classy goal to reduce the margin back into single figures.

With only five points separating the two sides heading into the last quarter it was all to play for with Collingullie having a few chances to extend their lead early before Foley kicked his third of the afternoon and gave the Goannas the lead for the first time of the match.

Collingullie continued to press but were not able to make the most of their opportunities until Chad Fuller stepped up to the plate and gave the Demons the lead again at the 23^rd minute mark of the final quarter.

Despite there nearly being seven minutes of time played after that, there was no further score and Collingullie held on for an important four-point win.

The Demons had talked about the importance of getting off to a good start during the week and Perryman was pleased to see his side made the most of their opportunities early.

"It was good," he said.

"We had a bit of a breeze in that first quarter which was handy, so we put it on the board.

"But we probably didn't reach that standard for the rest of the game.

"We kicked five in the first quarter then only kicked three for the rest of the game.

"It was a good start but they are a quality side and it could've gone their way easily.

"We will take the win but we have got a bit to work on."

The win has come at a cost for the Demons with young defender Harry Radley suffering what appears to be a shoulder injury after a big collision in the second quarter.

Radley has been a lock down back for the Demons and Perryman admitted losing him had a big impact.

"It took a while to adjust especially with James Pope being out as well," he said.

"They have probably been our two key position backs for the year but I thought our backs were super.

"Josh Gunning played really well late in the game, Blake Harper was great down back and all the rest of the boys really stood up in the big contests during that last quarter."

Perryman also noted the performance of Matt Klemke, Wichman, Sam Stening and Ed Perryman.

While pleased to get the four points, Perryman noted that his side needed to keep improving as they prepare for the finals in just a few weeks.

"We just need to keep sticking to our game plan," he said.

"Everytime we go away from it we come a bit unstuck.

"We need to keep improving because finals is a different level of footy and we know that sides like Mango, Ganmain, Coolamon and Turvey are going to be bloody hard to beat."

The Goannas horror run with injury continued with Nick Collins, Paddy Griffin and Patrick Killalea all suffering hamstring injuries.

Full time

Collingullie 5.2 7.3 7.6 8.12 (60)

MCUE 0.0 5.3 6.7 8.8 (56)

GOALS: Collingullie: E.Perryman 1, M.Klemke 1, H.Wichman 1, C.Fuller 1, B.McMillan 1, S.Stening 1, J.Klemke 1, S.Small 1; MCUE: N.Foley 3, T.Castles 2, T.Cohalan 1, P.Griffin 1, H.Collins 1

BEST: Collingullie: M.Inglis, M.Klemke, C.Fuller, B.Harper, H.Wichman, E.Perryman; MCUE: T.KEOGH, M.Hanrahan, N.Foley, H.Collins, J.Male, R.Turnbull

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