Stawell has had a less than perfect start to the season with many of their senior players missing games due to injury.

After defeating Nhill in their first encounter, Stawell went into the contest with high expectations.

The first quarter was slow, but steady.

With a strong wind going across the ground neither team was advantaged and the play went from end to end without a major score.

It took 14 minutes of play for Stawell to break the trend with Brenton Potter slotting one home from 45 metres out on a slight angle.

Stawell was then able to get a swing in momentum and kick a couple in a row while keeping Nhill goalless.

In the second term it was Stawell again who did the scoring and with a lead of 33 points at the main break a win was all but secured.

However, the Tigers came out firing in the second half.

After Liam Nuske injured his groin in the warm up and took part in just five minutes of football, Stawell was down one rotation for the remainder of the game.

The lack of rotation became obvious throughout the third quarter as Warriors started to look tired.

Nhill had themselves back into the match and were just one kick behind going into the final stages.

At three quarter time coach Brad Cassidy asked his players to play a similar brand of football to what they had done in the first half and they responded.

"Nhill certainly asked questions and our boys responded," Cassidy said.

"That is pleasing as a coach. We knew if we didn't lift, we would get beaten."

In the final minutes of the match Matt Considine received a handball over the top from Andrew Cameron and had a shot at goal, but unfortunately it didn't make the distance. He kicked the ball off the ground and made just enough contact to see the ball sail through the big sticks.

"I'm just really happy for them all," Cassidy said.

"It was a great effort by the boys. It wasn't the perfect four quarter game, but it was what we needed."

After just five days since Warriors played a physical game against Ararat, they had some players who weren't fit enough to take the field.

"Having just five days and Nhill having a 14 day break affected our run," Cassidy said.

"Our run and carry stopped in that third quarter and we looked tired in the legs."

In the last ten minutes of the game Warriors played football that saw them produce a lead in the first half to win by 19 points.