Wangaratta Rovers announced themselves as genuine premiership contenders with a 32-point win over Yarrawonga on Saturday. The Hawks triumphed by 15.9 (99) to 9.13 (67) at a jubilant W. J. Findlay Oval to sit level on five wins alongside the Pigeons, Wangaratta and Wodonga. Tom Boyd kicked four goals for Rovers and there were three each for Alex Marklew and Toby Murray, with the home side booting nine of the last 11 having trailed by 12 points midway through the third quarter. You wouldn't have been able to swing a cat in the Rovers rooms after the game as Sam Murray's players walked into a sea of noise. "This is who we were," Murray declared. "We're not doing anything we don't expect of each other. "Last week (against Wodonga) was a really good display of that and this week again. "We dropped that one against Myrtleford that's sitting in the back of our minds but we move forward and we've done a lot to get ourselves back. "Our game style at the moment is stacking up, defensively we're bringing it and I'm really proud of the boys." Already missing Mark Whiley and Harry Wheeler, the Pigeons were dealt a further blow when ruckman Lach Howe had to pull out of the game due to injury. But fit-again Michael Gibbons kicked an early goal and Matt Casey unloaded from 60 metres as Yarrawonga carried a four-point lead into quarter-time. Tempers flared on the siren, with Cam Wilson and Lockey McCartney going at it before the two coaches exchanged words on their way to the huddles. Whatever was said, it seemed to fire up the Rovers, for whom Alex Marklew booted two goals in as many minutes after the restart before Tom Boyd made amends for a bad miss with a couple of his own late in the first half. Back came the Pigeons, though, with goals from Gibbons, Fothergill and Ned Pendergast wresting control back their way before the Hawks exploded. Back-to-back goals for the superb Toby Murray were followed up by McCartney and Boyd before a Marklew monster from 50m sent the hosts into the final break 18 points up. Yarrawonga needed a response but Tom Baulch and Jack Gerrish goaled to make their task even harder before Fothergill and Leigh Williams hit the scoreboard to give the visitors faint hope. But this was to be Rovers' day and after Baulch had capped a fine display with his second goal, Boyd nailed his fourth after the siren to start the celebrations. Justin Lewis was hugely impressive on his senior debut while Cody Schutt, Will Christie, Michael Clark and Toby Murray were all immense for the Hawks. Gibbons was named among the Pigeons' best. "Will Christie was really gallant today," Murray said. "He may not have had 30 touches and a lot of big marks but, gee, he competed. "In the third quarter, we had four or five stoppages where they came at us early and we got back on top, due to Will's ruck work. "I would say 'Pup' (Clark) is the best defender in the league. "He hasn't lost many and this is what we expect of him. "I think also being able to add Jace McQuade back into that allows me and Cody Schutt to play more of an offensive game. "Justin Lewis came in today, and what a really good player he is, so we've got some depth back and it's been great." Leigh Masters was influential for the Pigeons early, taking a number of soaring intercept marks, but the reigning Morris medallist was occupied by Alex McCarthy after half-time. "He (Masters) was on early and we played too much into what he likes to do," Murray said. "But Alex nullified him pretty well and it's good to have role-players like that who are willing to sacrifice their game to get us an outcome. "Overall, we improved our method going forward as well. "Early on, we were very quick post-centre but in the last half, we played a lot more tempo and were able to kick to our forwards' advantage." To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: