Two weeks after Golden Square dished out a 159-point hiding to Gisborne, the third-placed Bulldogs crumbled to an 86-point defeat to the Bloods at the QEO.

The 18.21 (129) to 6.7 (43) final scoreline flattered Gisborne, which now must defeat Strathfieldsaye next Saturday to cement the double-chance for the finals.

South Bendigo missed many chances in front of goal and the Bulldogs kicked the final two goals of the game to ensure it wasn’t another three figure deficit.

“We’re a million miles away from producing good footy at the moment,’’ a disappointed Gisborne coach Ty Elliott said.

“We’ve got too many guys that I don’t know whether they just don’t care or whether they don’t want to better themselves.

“The disappointing thing is that when you’ve got guys like Ollie Messaoudi, Jason Duff-Tyler, Matty McKenzie, Rod Sharp and Stewart Hamilton out there that were a big part of the successful reign this club had, but some other players out there just don’t show them any respect.

“There’s no willingness to work for each other and there’s too much me mentality instead of we mentality.

“That mentality is getting proven on the scoreboard.’’

The Bulldogs were competitive early and when Rod Sharp kicked the opening goal of the second term they trailed by just two points.

But from that point on it was one-way traffic.

Gisborne didn’t kick another goal until the 15-minute mark of the final quarter, while South Bendigo piled on 14.

As insipid as Gisborne was, the Bloods looked every bit the BFNL’s best side.

They’re intensity was outstanding, they made the Bulldogs look very slow and their use of the ball was first rate.

South’s midfield dominated from start to finish.

Daniel Frew laid 13 tackles as he completely shut down Gisborne star Ollie Messaoudi.

Gavin Bowles, Shaun Bergin, Aaron Connaughton ran riot through the centre of the ground.

South Bendigo’s midfield depth now allows coach Rick Coburn to use Brady Childs out of the goalsquare.

Childs kicked three goals and had a hand in a number of others.

He’s a strong mark overhead for his size and his defensive pressure inside forward 50 gave the Gisborne defence plenty of headaches.

Down back the Bloods rarely put a foot wrong.

Julian Lake is in career best form, while Michael Leech and Leigh Rees gave Anthony Belcher and Callan Potter little space.

The Bloods can sew up top spot in the final round if they defeat Castlemaine at the Camp Reserve.