The strong wins played havoc with games but Royal’s 24-13 win gives them a vital break of Darren O’Brien and LJ Hooker, who are locked in a battle for fourth.

Hills Solicitors and The George Tavern both had comfortable wins in their battle for top spot.

Hills defeated LJ Hooker 18-34, and The George returned to court after a three week break to record a 32-13 win against The Bradford.

A recent arrival into the Royal Federal line-up, defender Kate Summers showed she will be a valuable addition to the Branxton team’s line-up with the finals just four rounds away.

“Our defenders played extremely well and Kate our wing defence, who has only recently come to us, was our best,” Royal Federal skipper Kim Starkey said.

“The girls at the defensive end have been strong for us all season and Kate further strengthens that and gives us more options.

“Defence has no doubt been our strength, we’ve just got to capitalise on their efforts from the mid-court and in front of goal.

“It’s looking pretty positive for us. We are starting to gel well as a team.”

Starkey was full of praise for the team’s young goal shooters Darcy Witherdin and Bridget George, who persevered well in very trying conditions.

“We played well considering the conditions. It was hard enough to make a pass, let alone score which was reflected in all the games on Saturday,” she said.

“It seemed like you made five attempts before you got a goal just the way the wind was.

“Darcy Witherdin and Bridget George, our goal shooters, are our two youngest players and they really persevered well in conditions with the wind which really made it difficult for them

“To be honest, I think I would rather play in the rain than the wind like that.”

Starkey said Saturday’s victory game them a good chance of finishing third at the end of the regular season.

“Obviously there are four games to come, but I think we should be comfortably in the top four,” she said.

Starkey said Darren O’Brien were a good team, who would benefit going into the future from their first year together in A-grade.

“They never give up, they’re definitely not a team we take lightly,” she said.

“They give 100 per cent no matter what the score is.

“They’re quite strong in their mid-court. Sometimes the score doesn’t accurately depict the evenness of a game and that was the case on Saturday.”

Next week’s game between Darren O’Brien Plumbing and LJ Hooker will go a long way to deciding the A-grade final four make-up. The battle for top spot hots up again with Hills Solicitors and The George Tavern facing off

Royal Federal play The Castle. The Bradford has the bye.