South Mandurah broke away from the wooden spoon rat race with another outstanding Jack Shanahan performance helping them claim a victory over Halls Head on Saturday.
The Falcons, Lightning and Waroona had all been deadlocked on two wins apiece for four straight rounds, but a hot start and even better finish helped South Mandurah chalk up their third with a 14.13 (97) to 6.13 (49) win.
Brody Wemm had Souths off to a hot start when he nailed two of the game's opening three goals before James Fenton and Mathew McMahen followed suit to give the visiting side a handy buffer over their next-door neighbours.
Halls Head rued their own inaccuracy booting one goal and five behinds in the opening term, with Kobey Rodney their lone goal kicker.
That wayward kicking continued as they went without a goal in the second term, allowing the Falcons to extend their lead with majors to Wemm and John Bennell.
By half time South Mandurah held a five-goal lead, but Halls Head were resurgent in the third term.
Cory Fish and Bailey Hall put in solid performances as Luke Humphries, Mathew Allen and Matt Ballantyne all scored goals to cut the margin to just 16 points at the end of the quarter.
The Lightning seemed to have momentum heading down the final stretch, but the Falcons conjured a stellar fourth quarter booting seven goals to two.
Adam Reindhart slotted a pair of goals in the quarter while Jack Varley and Hamish Mearns also registered majors as South Mandurah stormed to the eight-goal victory.
The win places the Falcons a game above Halls Head, as they head into the bye week with a clash against Centrals on the horizon.
Halls Head will be hoping to record their third win when they take on Waroona.
Goals
Halls Head
M. Ballantyne 3, M. Allen, K. Rodney, L. Humphries
South Mandurah
M. McMahen 3, B. Wemm 3, J. Bennell 2, A. Reinhardt 2, J. Varley, Z. Ugle, H. Mearns, J. Fenton
Best
Halls Head
C. Fish, B. Hall, M. Royal, T. Phillips, T. Sexton, K. Gavin
South Mandurah
J. Shanahan, B. Wemm, T. Lee, S. Snowdon, J. Bennell