I-n to cold blustery conditions at the Berrambool ground, the visiting Sea Eagles stormed away to a solid early lead, but the Diggers were able to reel them back and close the margin to just five points before the final siren, going down 9-2-56 to 7-9-51.

The score reflected Merimbula's efforts to earn shots at goal with a few shots fading wide for behinds that made the difference on the day.

Will Regan was dominant for the host club, using his speed to get loose out of clustered ball contests and pushing play forward for the Merimbula club, where Tom Adams was the leading goal kicker with a pair for the day.

However, at the opposite end of the ground Tathra forward Luke Taylor found some cheeky angled options at the big sticks to come away with a six-goal haul for the Sea Eagles.

Both clubs struggled to find their feet early in the piece. Despite Tathra kicking four early goals to take a quick lead, play through the middle was fragmented in the greasy and cold conditions with a few kicks going a bit awry, while players had little freedom of movement for handball options.

With Matt Molkentin sidelined through ankle injury, the Diggers were able to lean on their new addition Ethan White pretty heavily and he delivered, named as one of the best on ground and counting among the Merimbula goal-kickers for the day.

By the second quarter the Diggers were challenging for possession well, but had to chase down the lead established by Tathra in the opening quarter and began the hard yards of closing the gap.

Unfortunately, Merimbula's options in front waivered and a flurry of behinds was what eventuated as the Eagles maintained a 25 point buffer by the main break.

Even in the third the Eagles had edged further ahead to lead by 31 points, but the Diggers fought back valiantly in the last period, charging to the finish with five goals and a pair of behinds.

Meanwhile, the Panthers have been knocked off the top of the table after a surprise loss to the Narooma Lions on Saturday.

The Lions stormed out of the blocks to silence any scoring chances for the Pambula squad in the opening quarter and, while the Panthers battled into contention later, the Narooma outfit held a small margin to win 8-7-55 to 5-7-37.

Kyle Tucker and Keegan Burhop kicked a pair each for the Panthers, but the Lions found a few too many options in front to take the game, which relegates the Panthers to second on the table behind the Sea Eagles.