THE SFL's quest for a tight top-of-the-ladder clash continues after Lindisfarne handed Dodges Ferry a 10-goal thrashing at Anzac Park yesterday. Both sides went into the match undefeated and it was the visitors who got the strong start. Dodges kicked four of the first five goals but from then on it was all the Blues as they ran away to a 19.9 (123) to 9.9 (63) win. Lindisfarne stepped up the pressure and run, with Gavin Quirk dominating the midfield, Tim Bracken having the best of Sharks' defender Brad Curran and Justin Rainbird kicking five goals up forward, and the Blues never looked back. Lindisfarne coach Daniel Willing said his side placed a lot of importance on yesterday's clash. ``We spoke about it being season defining,'' Willing said. ``If we fall behind we are chasing them for the rest of the year, so it was season defining and we knew that and we put our best foot forward today.'' Sharks' coach Danny Ling said the loss represented his side's mental approach. ``I'm not sure whether it is the fact we've been playing sides that we have beaten pretty easily and all of a sudden maybe the boys think they are going a little bit better than what they were,'' Ling said. ``That was something I said to them Thursday night. I thought our training was disgraceful and if we played liked that on Saturday we would struggle to beat anyone, and that's what eventuated.'' Having ticked off Dodges, Lindisfarne now faces the most daunting task in the SFL -- tackling New Norfolk at Boyer next Saturday. ``We are not focused on the result we are focused on doing the right things,'' Lindisfarne coach Daniel Willing said. ``We can go up there in the right frame of mind to play our best footy and who knows what might happen.'' New Norfolk prepared for its clash with Lindisfarne next week in typical style with a 148-point demolition of the Central Hawks. In the closest game of the round, Huonville edged out Sorell by five points despite nine goals from the Eagles Scott Allen. The Lions' playing-coach Chris Joyce answered Allen's challenge by booting eight at the other end. Cygnet recorded its second win of the season on the back of a 10-goal haul from Tim Lamprill with a 39-point win over Brighton, while Kingborough's Jarrod Collis bagged 12 goals in the Tigers' 149-point smashing of Triabunna.
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