A THIRD-QUARTER melee and a verbal mauling from coach Mathew Armstrong yesterday inspired Tasmania to its best win in its seven-game winning streak.
Playing third-placed Bendigo at Bendigo - the club's longest and arguably toughest road trip in the VFL - the Devils withstood a late home-town rally to win by nine points, 14.7 (91) to 12.10 (82).
After being 1-8 and in last place, the Devils have now squared the ledger and continue to firm up their place in the top eight.
And their eight-match winning streak is a club record, giving them a huge amount of momentum with the finals less than a month away.
After sprinting to a 33-point lead late in the second quarter yesterday, rain halted the Devils' run but gave the Essendon-aligned Bombers wings.
The first half seemed to be a case of the Devils by how far, as normally damaging wingman Ben Atkin started at full-forward to kick four goals before the long break.
Intensity, tackling and sacrifices abounded until rain fell, diluting the Devils' dominance as the Bombers slammed on 4.5 to 1.1 to make it just five points the difference at the final change.
But as the siren blew, so did the tempers. In the wet and cold conditions, spot fires broke out involving all players, including those on the interchange bench.
Then came a demonstrative three-quarter-time sermon from Armstrong, clearly frustrated with his experienced players.
"I wasn't happy with the third quarter with the way we went about it and I wasn't happy with the way we ended the third quarter," Armstrong said later.
"We don't need people forking out money [in fines]. To me that was a sign of frustration and I wasn't happy at all and that was with my leadership group.
"But to their credit and to the man they put their hand up in the last quarter, so that shows good character."
But it was the defence who can take most of the credit for yesterday's victory.
Full-back Mathew Jovanovic and back pocket Nathan Street vied for best-afield honours and Nathan Grima had the better of Bendigo's leading goalkicker, Kain Robins.
After a mid-season injury and a slump in form, Jovanovic has returned to his very best, yesterday shutting down Callan Beasey and Tristan Cartledge and taking a number of telling contested marks in both dry and wet conditions.
Street has become the Devils' ultimate professional, quietly going about his work unnoticed by most except those in the inner sanctum.
With just four points the difference late in the final quarter and Bendigo pressing, the 21-year-old gathered a loose, slippery ball deep in defence and unloaded a 60m torpedo punt to centre wing to once again relieve the pressure. It was just another example of Street's no-nonsense performance that has typified his season.
The architect for Bendigo's revival was all too familiar to Armstrong.
Jordan Doering, the 2003 Devils' best and fairest winner before departing for Bendigo the following year, steadied the Bombers in the first half before dominating across half-back in the second half.
But every time the Bombers got within a kick, the Devils were able to steady and goal, first through captain Ben Beams early in the final quarter, then Luke Shackleton and Kurt Heazlewood late in the term.
But there were also some post-match headaches for Armstrong. Ruckman Markham Johnson was battling a groin injury late in the game, and Heazlewood was reported in the third quarter for tripping.
On top of this Armstrong, only has five days to prepare for his next game, against Coburg in Launceston on Friday night.
"It's a short week and I have to get the players up again," he said.
"It was a great win, but with the short turnaround we have to show great application, so next week is a tough assignment. We will have to make some changes."
Final Scores
TASMANIA 6.1 8.5 9.6 14.7 (91)
BENDIGO 3.0 4.2 8.7 12.10 (82)
Goals: Tasmania: Plapp 4 Atkin 4 Johnson Shackleton Beams Heazlewood Hall T Grima. Bendigo: Watson 4 Robins 2 Carter Vigus Cartledge Blumfield Rosa Beasy.
Best: Tasmania: Jovanovic Atkin B Geappen Stephens Heazlewood Ronaldson. Bendigo: Doering Thomas Wilson Watson Hunt Blumfield.
Reports: K Heazlewood (Tasmania) for tripping S Rosa (Bendigo) in the third quarter. At QE Oval.
Last Modified on 08/08/2005 15:20