When the final siren sounded, the Ararat Eagles were cheered off the ground, but for reasons they would rather forget.
The country Victorian club had just been handed the biggest loss in league history, losing by 509 points to Great Western in the Mininera and District Football League in the state's south west.
The cheers were for their perseverance, rather than their talent.
"It was overwhelming, you could see the boys were hurting and that really hurts you," said Ararat president Antony 'Nats' McRoberts.
"A few of the boys from Great Western, and the club themselves, donated a few beers to the fellas from our side which was good.
"But still, no one was smiling. Everyone was more exhausted, as opposed to disappointed."
The Eagles finished with just 12 fit players on the ground, some of which had also played in Ararat's reserve side's 178-point loss earlier that day.
The 79.41 (515) to 1.0 (6) defeat meant Ararat had lost their past three games by a combined 948 points. The club was also forced to forfeit a match with Tatyoon after not enough players turned up to field a side.
However, they remain confident they will last until the end of this season, with a recruitment drive for the 2020 season already underway.
"We've got four games to go, hopefully we can get over the line and try again next year," McRoberts said.
"This stuff is happening right across the board. I think if you were to look in every country league there'd be clubs that are in the same situation as us.
"I just feel for the blokes that go in there week in week out, flog their guts out to no avail, knowing they're going out to get flogged."
Lions find their roar
If the Ararat Eagles needs inspiration to pull themselves back from the brink of extinction, they should look no further than the team that handed them last weekend's thumping.
In 2010, the Great Western Lions were on the receiving end of weekly triple-figure defeats in the Horsham and District Football Netball League, eventually going into recess in 2011.
But unlike many teams for whom "recess" is merely a euphemism for "folding", the Lions reformed in 2012 in the neighbouring Mininera and District league.
Its rebirth was not exactly phoenix-like, said Great Western committee member and footballer Shannon Notting.
"[We came] back and got beaten by Tatyoon by 300 points — we didn't actually score that day," Notting said.
Seven seasons later and Great Western is third on the ladder and likely to play senior-division finals for the first time since joining the Mininera league.
"We put in a lot of hard work over the years to come out of recess," Notting said.
"You've just got to keep moving on and hopefully Ararat do the same thing."
Up there Cazaly … and down again
The rise and fall of clubs like Great Western and Ararat is a snapshot of country footy in Victoria, where teams can bounce from the bottom of the ladder to premiers in the space of a season.
But while the AFL touts record-high levels of participation across the nation, buoyed by the ascent of women's football, the number of teams and leagues in country Victoria have been in a steady decline.
In south-west Victoria since 1999, two leagues — the Ararat District Football Association and the Heytesbury Mt Noorat league — have folded.
Six teams have disbanded and about a dozen have had to merge with rivals in order to survive.
The Mininera and District league alone has had six teams merge into three, and another team fold in the past two decades.
But the AFL insists that country leagues are as healthy as they've ever been, with league bosses instead pointing the finger at population change.
"What can't be denied and ignored is in some smaller regional areas we have ageing and dwindling populations," said AFL Western Victoria general manager Rod Ward.
"The AFL really can't … go out and recruit players. But what we can do is provide support for those volunteers and those clubs."
He said the answer to league inequality could be dominant teams going easier on their opposition.
"It could be about positional rotation, not leaving your best full forward there all day. If the other club has reduced players, lending them players," Ward said.
"There's nothing to be gained from 500-point losses."
Searching for greener pastures
The drubbings are not only affecting the league's losers, but the big winners as well.
The Penshurst Bombers are a powerhouse in the Mininera league with 12 wins from 13 games and an eye-watering per cent of 318.58.
But despite their dominance, the Bombers are investigating moving to the neighbouring Warrnambool District league.
Club president Brendan Cottrill says he's worried about Mininera's future.
"Probably getting a little bit frustrated with the Mininera league. The junior level's fallen right away," Cottrill said.
"The juniors are the lifeblood of most country clubs really — netball and football."
Penshurst is joined by the 10th-placed Hawkesdale–Macarthur in searching for other leagues to join, while the Smythesdale Bulldogs — currently in recession after being kicked out of their league — are re-considering applying to join Mininera, after the existing clubs rejected their application last year.
AFL Victoria says it's reviewing the Mininera league, with findings due in 2021.
"Some people might say that's not fast enough but it's a very detailed process," Ward said.
"We'll be … meeting with clubs that have immediate need like the Ararat Eagles and supporting them while that review takes place."