AN epic clash between two emerging league giants has Bright daring to dream after a gritty 46-37 win against local rival Whorouly.

Whorouly got the early jump with a three-goal advantage at the first break, before Bright got going in a big way in the second quarter to lead by five goals at half-time in a gripping contest.

The home team stretched the margin to nine with a quarter to go to create a buffer that was going to be difficult, but not impossible, for Whorouly to overturn.

The Lions didn’t give up without a final-quarter fight as the margin remained in single figures thanks to a 10-goal all fourth period.

Bright coach Ash Grimes praised her playing group after a second consecutive win to start the season.

“It was a great team effort and we’re all really happy with the result,” Grimes said.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game against a strong opponent, but we stuck to our game plan and executed well when it mattered.

“It’s always satisfying to come out on top in those close matchups – everyone contributed and it’s nice to see that effort paying off.

“Getting five wins across the day was a highlight, and it’s a testament to the hard work the whole squad’s been putting in."

Although the result did not go their way from a scoreboard perspective, Whorouly coach Kelly Cousins found positives from the match despite the loss.

“I was really happy with our start,” Cousins said.

“We focused on addressing that this week after our slow start against Bonnie Doon.

“It was a bit of a tricky one for us as we had two players away from our midcourt, which affected our attacking end and limited our rotations.

“But make no mistake, we still had every opportunity to take the win with the players we had.

“Full credit to Bright though – they forced us into making poor decisions in our attacking end and were pushing us off circle edge.

“Defensively I thought we got plenty of turnovers and we created plenty of opportunities for our attackers.

“We’ll be back to full strength next week, so we’ll look to getting back to our structures and being more disciplined consistently across four quarters of netball.”

Elsewhere, Milawa snatched a gritty win over Greta at home, the Demons getting up 39-31.

The Demons led at every break, but a late-game fightback from the Blues almost caused an upset.

Milawa shooter Emily Canny had her eye in, shooting at 80 per cent for the match, while Greta’s Loren McClounan and Siene Box-Corsini were strong at both ends.

In other matches, reigning premiers Bonnie Doon recorded their first win of the season against North Wangaratta, 50-27.

Tarrawingee handed King Valley a 27-goal thumping, coming away with the win 49-22, while the Bats were five goals too good for Moyhu, 41-36.