South Warrnambool co-captain Liam Youl returns for win against Warrnambool

Youl, who had a delayed start due to injury, helped the Roosters improve their winning streak to five games on Saturday.

The premiership contender overcame cross-town rival Warrnambool 10.11 (71) to 7.13 (55) at Reid Oval.

South Warrnambool coach Mat Battistello said Youl's inclusion provided a spark.

"Having your co-captain back is ultra important and I guess our boys see the amount of work he puts into his body to get it right and on the back of that he got rewarded, got through and contributed to the team really well," he said.

"I am sure the boys always get a buzz when their captain is out there. It was good for our midfield group to have him in there.

"We haven't had him for five weeks so we got to have a different look to see what it looks like with him."

Battistello said Warrnambool, which now has a 2-3 record, was a challenging opponent.

"It was a good experience for the boys to get onto a bigger, faster track," he said.

"I think both sides found the wind pretty tricky today. Warrnambool were outstanding in the contest and it ebbed and flowed all game really.

"For us to have two weeks off and grind out a win like that, we were pumped with it, to be truthful. I think they're a really good side.

"They hunted us around the contest - sides are going to want to do that now - and I thought our ability to hang in there was really good."

Warrnambool coach Ben Parkinson said the Blues felt they were in the contest.

"It was one of missed opportunities for us," he said.

"We had more inside 50s and had wayward kicking with 7.13 and at least half of them were gettable set shots and that was compounded by giving up two goals after the 30-minute mark of the second quarter and again in the third after the 29-minute mark we gave another two up."

Parkinson said the Blues "were really good for long periods of quarters".

"Our pressure was pretty good again. Our onballers were really disciplined," he said.

South defender Isaac Thomas rolled his ankle but scans cleared him of major damage while ex-Rooster Paddy Anderson kicked three goals against his former club.

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