SFL heavyweight New Norfolk showed its first signs of infallibility despite romping to a 29.18 (192) to 11.12 (78) win over fourth-placed Kingborough at Boyer yesterday.
It was a below par performance from the Eagles, falling below their average winning margin of 146 points, but still it was their ninth 100-point win in 12 matches this season.
Kingborough, trailing by 36 points early in the second quarter, showed plenty of spirit to battle back to within nine points a minute into the third quarter as they took advantage of the Eagles' poor discipline and sloppy disposal.
But New Norfolk's ruthless running game clicked into gear and Roger Belcher and Nathan Ross created havoc through the midfield.
And with captain Brad Carver and Michael Thompson proving a real handful up front, New Norfolk ran over the Tigers 19 goals to two in the second half.
Thompson and Carver both kicked five goals and the competition's leading goalkicker Adrian Burdon notched six to take his season's haul to 58.
Coach Anthony McConnon conceded the first half effort was well short of his expectations.
``We were unaccountable in what we needed to do.
``We were hanging five to 10 metres off the opposition which was disappointing.
``We took our foot off the pedal but it was nothing that a half-time blast couldn't fix.
``A few of our players needed a reality check and once we did that we were fine,'' he said.
Despite the second-half demolition, McConnon said there was still room for improvement.
``We've still got four or five players to come back into the side and we've still got some areas in which we can do better,'' he said.
In other matches, second-placed Lindisfarne ended Claremont's six match winning run with a 69-point victory at Anzac Park. The Central Hawks leapfrogged Kingborough into fourth, after thrashing Cygnet 15.5 (95) to 2.5 (17) at Bothwell.
Sorell beat ladder trailers Triabunna by 17 points and Dodges Ferry remained third after a 14.9 (93) to 3.3 (21) victory over Brighton.
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