Northern Bullants Senior coach Darren Harris commended his players for hanging in, in what was an uncompromising contest with the Tigers.
"To be able to get a win over Coburg at Coburg was a good effort. We knew it was going to be a really tough game, they played really well in the first game against Sandy then had the bye, so we knew what we were up against," Harris said.
"We were always able to keep that two-goal buffer . . . we maintained our composure and did what we needed to do to get the win, which was a terrific experience for our young players."
Amongst the Ants' better performers was David Ellard, who overcame a close-checking tag throughout the match, together with "the older heads" as Harris put it - the likes of Brock McLean and Setanta O'hAilpin - who together made a stand, particularly late in the match when the pressure was mounting.
Harris believed McLean was steadily improving with each hit-out.
"Brock's had 27 and 32 touches in his past two weeks, he's getting plenty of touches and he's laying plenty of tackles," Harris said.
"He just needs to keep working on his spread from contests, but he's definitely getting closer.
"O'hAilpin kicked 4.4 and had 23 in his first game back after a couple of months, so that was also really encouraging."
The Ants now confront the undefeated Port Melbourne in Saturday's match of the round at Preston City Oval.
Northern Bullants 3.4 8.6 12.8 16.12 (108)
Coburg Tigers 2.4 5.8 9.10 15.11 (101)
Goals: O'hAilpin, Thornton 4, Marcon, O'Keefe 2, Twomey, Kerr, Saad, Thomas
Best: Iacobucci, McLean, O'hAilpin, Ellard, Bower, Joseph
