Two minutes later Michael Prince was given a free in the forward-pocket for Min/Man but he missed the target from 25 metres out.

Like the early stages of the term the next ten minutes was an arm-wrestle with enormous pressure being applied to the ball-getter finishing with the footy having to be thrown up by the umpires many times.

Late in the quarter James Reilly gave the footy to Aaron Spicer who pumped it to the hotspot, Stephen Tohl marked but his kick for goal was touched by the player standing the mark and Min/Man led by a goal at the first huddle.

QUARTER TIME: MIN/MAN 1.3 (9) BBH 0.3 (3)

The locals got off to the perfect start in the second term winning the centre clearance from the opening bounce with Aaron Ackland kicking the footy to the scoreboard pocket, Prince took a top mark and split the centre with a great kick from the boundary line 25 metres out.

With 3 and a half minutes on the clock Mark Phin received a rare free kick for the Rams, made no mistake from 40 metres out and the visitors were finally on the board with their first goal of the game.

Four minutes later Spicer tapped the footy beautifully to Wall who kicked inside fifty, Lynch ran onto it, gathered and snapped for goal from 25 metres out but finished with a behind.

Approaching the 10-minute mark Spicer thumped the footy forward from a throw-in, Peter Mann did the roving, kicked to half-forward, Wall gathered, went short to Schumann who kicked in front of David Reed who got hold of it, snapped truly and the Rams were a point up.

At the 12-minute mark Reed had the opportunity to put BBH 7 points in front after Tom Riggs was decked after kicking the footy and he took the free 40 metres out from goal but Reed failed to convert.

A minute later Phin got hold of a loose ball, handballed to Wall and he slotted through an excellent goal from the north-west pocket 45 metres out to put B.B.H. 8 points up.

With 16 minutes on the clock Tim Crick cleverly soccered the footy forward from a ball-up to Reed who kicked down the wing, Phin gathered, kicked inside fifty, Tohl met it on the bounce, handballed to Reed who ran to 30 metres and nailed his second major for the term.

Entering the time-on period Min/Man had the chance to get one back through Baraglia but he missed the target with a snap from close range.

BBH went forward approaching siren time with Davis finding Reilly who took a good mark but he failed to finish the job from 40 metres out but the Rams had the better of the Peckers in the second term and led by 14 points at the long break.

HALF TIME: BBH 4.6 (30),

MIN/MAN 2.4 (16)

The Rams did all the attacking in the early stages of the second half with Reed trying a check-side snap for goal with 2 minutes on the clock but he missed the target from 15 metres out.

Two minutes later the Peckers went forward through Rick Piggott who found Ryan McDermid 30 metres out from goal and he converted after marking to cut the margin back to 9 points.

At the 7-minute mark Schumann received a free 40 metres out from goal for the visitors but his ordinary kick went through for a behind.

A minute later Piggott intercepted an errant handball by a Ram, handballed in front of Kerslake who gathered, kicked forward off the left boot, Ryan McDermid was given a free and booted his second goal for the quarter from 40 metres out.

BBH answered at the 11-minute mark with Phin excellently trapping the footy and handballing to Wall who kicked around the body, Tohl got hold of it and snapped successfully from 30 metres out.

Min/Man went on the rebound through Kerslake who drove a good kick deep inside fifty, Mick Young marked but failed to convert from 30 metres out.

The Rams cleared the area from the kick-in through Andrew Purchase, Casey Cooper and Aaron Spicer who kicked over the wing. Piggott gathered the footy for Min/Man but handballed straight to Jason Schuppan who kicked up the line, Reed got hold of it, bombed to full-forward, Tohl marked and pierced the large opening from 15 metres out.

With 16 minutes on the clock Phin tapped the footy to Davis from a throw-in who handballed to Tohl and he snapped for his third major of the term that appeared to go between the big sticks but it was signalled a behind.

Approaching the time-on period Piggott got hold of the footy after an abysmal kick out of defence by a Ram, kicked for goal but it rolled through for a behind letting the visitors off the hook and they entered the home straight 15 points in front.

THREE QUARTER TIME: BBH 6.9 (45), MIN/MAN 4.6 (30)

The breeze had dropped right off by the start of the final term and it was the locals that got the first score on the board but it was only a rushed behind after Brad Currie received a free kick in the scoreboard pocket approaching the 5-minute mark.

Two minutes later Davis squared the footy up to Reed at centre-half-forward who marked but he just missed the target from 45 metres out to stretch the deficit back out to 15 points.

It was an intense battle for the next five minutes before Min/Man broke through with Shane Ross getting hold of a loose footy in the goal-square and popping it through the middle to cut the margin back to 9 points.

The Peckers won the centre clearance through Baraglia with a soccer forward, Kerslake gathered, handballed to Ash Winders, handball back to Kerslake who kicked inside fifty off the left boot, Bevis marked, booted his second major from 30 metres out and there was only three points in it.

At the 17-minute mark Young gathered the footy, found Currie on the outer wing who squared it up to Bevis and he kicked to centre-half-forward. Kerslake marked, delivered to Prince on the lead and the massive crowd erupted as he nailed his second goal for the day to put the locals 3 points in front.

Both teams slugged it out for the next five minutes before the siren blew with the locals 3 points up breaking the visitors run of six straight wins in 2009.

FINAL SCORE: MIN/MAN 7.7 (49) d BBH 6.10 (46)

Min/Man coach David Wood said it was a tight battle and he was happy to get over the line.

“It was pretty tight in close all day, we didn’t play our best but we were luckily enough to still have an opportunity late in the game and we were good enough to take it but Burra are a good side and I’m happy with the result. Shane Ross was good in the last quarter when he went on the ball and it was a telling factor in the result,” Wood said.

BBH coach Peter Whittlesea thought it was a tight contest and didn’t think his team was going to lose the game.

“It was probably as tight a game as we’ve had, we’ve probably been in front or in control every other game where as they just hung with us for most of the day but then I didn’t really think we looked like losing. But we let it slip which is probably a good leveller for us, it won’t hurt, they ran the game out better than us which sends a clear message that our fitness level still needs to be higher yet,” said Whittlesea.