For the second time this season, Whorouly has claimed victory over North Wangaratta, and for the second time this season, it was an absolutely cracking contest.

The Lions roared at the Den over the valiant Hawks in four quarters of stunning footy on Saturday, with Whorouly prevailing 16.20 (116) to 10.11 (71).

North Wangaratta jumped out of the blocks, with star forward Corey Smith booting the first major in less than a minute of the siren, but a run of four goals to Whorouly helped the Lions take a 14-point lead into quarter time.

There was plenty of feeling in the match, with Whorouly’s Daniel Boyle carded and sent off for a stint after an altercation involving more than a few players from both teams.

The game opened up after quarter time, with the Lions kicking four on the trot after going goal for goal with the Hawks early.

After the half, the Hawks had their chances to bring the margin back, but were unable to capitalise on their looks inside the forward 50.

As the match wore on, the Lions seemed to keep finding more to give, with Whorouly completing their victory with a four goal to one final term.

Ruckman Ed Bramich competed hard all game, Jessie Smith continued his impressive season, while Max Scott kept the Hawks at bay across the backline.

For the Hawks, Zak Sartore was influential off half-back and in the middle, while Jonah Massey-Chase and Tyler Schulze performed well for the entire match.

More than half the Lions’ goals were kicked by full forward and coach Michael Newton, who finished with a bag of nine to bring his season tally to 77 majors.

Newton said the Hawks brought a massive physical presence to the contest, and he was happy with how his team stood up.

“We went into it knowing it was going to be a good challenge - with it being first versus third, we expected them to come in and give us a good swing in the game,” he said.

“They challenged at times, but I was really happy with the four-quarter effort.

“We just put them under so much pressure around the contest, and we were able to control the game in our half.

“Our pressure, our work rate around the contest was really strong, and that put us in good stead for the rest of the game.

“They at times played pretty well through the stoppages, but I thought our pressure throughout the game was really good.

“Ed Bramich is probably the best ruckman in the comp at the moment, and he’s getting better each week.

“Maxy [Scott] dominated, but Ed’s aggression and physicality in and around stoppage early, he set us up.”

After two brilliant clashes through the season, all eyes are peeled for a potential third encounter in the post-season.

Meanwhile, it was an important clash in the earlier reserves game, with the Lions taking the chocolates and going two games clear on top of the ladder.

While it was far from a clinic of clean skills from either team, Whorouly had enough in the tank to fight out a three-point win, 6.7 (43) to 5.10 (40).

In other senior clashes from the weekend, Bonnie Doon survived a scare from Tarrawingee by just eight points, 9.7 (61) to 7.11 (53), Bright handled Goorambat 15.21 (111) to 2.4 (16), Milawa got up by an even 100 points over Benalla All Blacks 21.13 (139) to 5.9 (39), while Greta thumped King Valley 27.16 (178) to 6.3 (39).