In what is undoubtedly the longest road trip and most daunting task in Ovens and King netball, Bright came perilously close to causing a major boilover against Bonnie Doon on Saturday, eventually going down 41-47.

On paper, the Bombers were heavily favoured to win comfortably, but Bright had other ideas and came out with a point to prove, highlighted by their hot start and four-goal lead at the first break.

Bright then held their nerve and the lead at 25-22 at the major break, and with two quarters to go, the visitors were daring to dream.

But the more experienced Bonnie Doon blitzed their opposition with speed and composure to regain the lead by four, then stretched it to six by the end of the match, but not without a huge scare from last year’s finalists.

The inclusions of Molly Whitty and Ash Farmer were pivotal, and both impressed to be in Bright’s best players, along with playing coach Ash Grimes.

Grimes had mixed feelings after the game, but pride was certainly one of them.

“Despite the result I was really proud of the effort from the girls - Bonnie Doon are obviously one of the benchmark sides in the competition, so to go down by only six after the game we played was really encouraging,” Grimes said.

“I thought our first half especially was some of the best netball we’ve produced this season - we moved the ball well, worked hard defensively and really backed ourselves.

“What probably clicked most was our consistency and composure, we stayed in the contest the whole day and even when momentum shifted, the girls kept responding.

“We also had four injuries throughout the game, which made things challenging with rotations and positional changes, but the effort and resilience never dropped.

“Molly coming back into the side definitely gave us some stability and experience down back - her strength and calmness helped settle the group, particularly against a really strong attacking end.

“There were some really great moments where you could see what this group is capable of when we play with confidence and connection.”

Meanwhile, it was business as usual on the field for Bright as they maintained their position atop of the senior football standings, all thanks to a relatively comfortable 40-point win in Bonnie Doon, 16.9 (105) to 10.5 (65).

The premiership quarter usually takes place in the third term, but the Mountain Men took the game by the scruff of the neck from the outset, kicking seven goals to one in the opening period and from here, the result was all but sewn up.

Bonnie Doon got their game going in the second and started to get their hands on the footy, but failed to regain the ascendancy for any meaningful length of time as Bright continued to squeeze.

Staring at a 56-point deficit with a quarter to go, the Bombers kicked four majors in the last to bring the final margin back to a more respectable figure for their sake.

Key forward Luke Quirk continued his good form with four more goals, along with three each from sidekick Bernie Ruaro and utility Riley Bacon, while Joe Crawley and Joe Gray shared ruck duties for the Mountain Men and were dominant around the ground.

Bright is the last club to experience their first bye of the season, which will take place this weekend, and their next outing will be at home to the much-improved North Wangaratta on Saturday, May 30.