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Railways back in hunt with ugly win

Railways' Thomas Oliver and Kalgoorlie's Matthew Farac during Sunday's GFL clash. Picture: Mary Meagher

Railways moved within a game of first place in the Goldfields Football League standings after holding on in a close call with Kalgoorlie last Sunday.

After successive losses in rounds 3 and 4, the defending premiers head into next weekend's bye back on track after edging Kalgoorlie by 15 points, 10.9 (69) to 8.6 (54), to complete a second straight win.

A seven-goal second term was pivotal in the red and blacks' latest victory, but captain Rhett Foster said the group had plenty to work on ahead of a round 8 encounter with first-placed Mines Rovers.

After working very hard to build a 19-point half-time lead, Railways were held to five behinds in the third quarter as Kalgoorlie moved within 11 points.

Foster took nothing away from Kalgoorlie, who he said were vastly improved on the opposition they encountered in round 1.

But he was just as adamant Railways could be more efficient, particularly when venturing inside the offensive 50m arc.

"We were very scrappy with the footy, turned it over too easily and probably wasted it going forward more times than not because our entries were poor," he said.

"Basically, there were too many skills errors and I guess we were a bit lucky in that regard.

"But credit to Kalgoorlie, too who really were up for a strong contest."

Railways' remarkably high standards have been rewarded with grand final appearances in each of the past six years.

Foster, however, said it was unreasonable to expect the squad's utter dominance of last season, when they lost just two games, could be maintained.

"People have that expectation, that we'll stay at that level but we have quite a few new faces, some injuries and a new coach," he said.

"It hasn't been the greatest start to a season, but everyone is working towards gelling better and there's always going to be a time when we're not really dominant and winning games easily."

Kalgoorlie remain without a win to sit two games, plus percentage, adrift of fourth-placed Kambalda.