The Devils trailed 12-8 at halftime but posted five tries to one in a second-half blitz to run out winners at Parrish Park.

Livewire fullback Tony Pellow made the most of his start in the No. 1 jumper, laying on a double for brother Colby and another four-pointer for centre Kurt Field.

It went with his own blistering 60-metre effort to take an eight-point lead midway through the second stanza.

Skipper Mitch Porter also scored the Devils only try of the first half after being shifted to the centres as coach Pete McLeod’s back-line reshuffle came up trumps.

“Tony came to club this year and he trialed well,” Devils coach Pete McLeod said post-match.

“He played reserve grade last week and went really well there and we all saw what he did in first grade after that.

“Mitchy Porter’s obviously a great fullback but we had Hayden Carpenter dislocate his elbow last week so I had to make a change.

“I just picked on form and tried find a spot for everybody and thankfully it worked out well for us.”

The Devils trailed 12-8 at halftime, with Josh Constable posting the first try in just the second minute of the match and Ben Jones charging across from close range 10 minutes before the break.

Porter’s solo effort kept the hosts in touch in the first half and he took a two-point lead when he converted Field’s 44^th minute try.

Cameron Scott leveled the scores with a penalty goal before the Pellow brothers combined for three tries and a 14-point lead with 11 minutes to play.

The Dogs gave themselves a sniff with Constable’s second try after Pellow spilled a Jones bomb at the back, before Josh Daley’s effort four minutes from time sealed the match.

“I thought we were pretty scrappy in the first half,” McLeod said.

“I thought we were down on energy in the first half and I thought Thirroul might have taken a bit out of us last week.

“We’ve tried to base our year on energy so I challenged the boys to find that at halftime.

“Things still didn’t quite go our way in the next 20 minutes but, to the boys credit, they stayed in touch and they executed at the back end so it was good to see.”

Having not managed a win over a top-four rival until the penultimate round last season, McLeod said knocking off the reigning champs in week two will be a huge confidence booster for his young side.

“The story of the last couple of years has been being there and thereabouts and not taking our chances,” McLeod said.

“At the back end I think we did more than take our chances, we probably created a few for ourselves as well.

“It was a good effort today but that’s all it was. Collies are going to be there at the back end of the season and we’re going to have to improve a lot to be playing at that end of the year as well.”

Collies coach Nathan Fien conceded it was a day on which his side never quite got going.

“It was a funny one, we were just off today,” Fien said.

“I thought our intensity and the way we played last week in all the effort areas was really off.

“That was what we challenged the boys with this week and I thought in the first half we were well in control.

“I thought we were right in it but games go for 80 minutes and for whatever reason we lost a bit of momentum.

“We knew what we were going to get from Wests coming off a draw, it was going to be a battle.

“It was a game we were planning on getting done in the 80^th minute of need be but we just weren’t good enough in the second half in some of the big moments.”

It won’t get any easier for the Dogs next week when they host a Dapto side fresh of their 22-0 win over Thirroul on Saturday.

Helensburgh and Berkeley will both be looking to make it two on the trot when they face-off at Berkeley Sports Ground, after the Tigers beat Corrimal 30-12 on Saturday.

The Cougars will need to bounce back quickly when they travel to Parrish Park to take on the Devils.