Rinaldi’s set shot from 50m on a 45 degree angle floated its way into the goal post to give the Roos a stunning 11.12 (78) to 10.17 (77) win over Gisborne.

Third-placed Gisborne had led by 24 points early in the final term, but the Roos dug in for the fight.

Consecutive goals to Matt Giri, Tim Brooks and Rinaldi cut the deficit to four points.

Jarrad Lynch steadied the ship for the Bulldogs with a set shot goal and it looked as though the Dogs had regained the momentum.

The momentum swung again on the back of a great individual goal from Roos’ veteran Jarryd Wiegard.

Wiegard intercepted a Gisborne kick in the middle of the ground, fed a handball off, then ran forward to receive the ball again and kicked truly on the run from 35m.

That made the margin four points with 20 minutes played on the clock.

The next 10 minutes was an arm wrestle.

Roos’ forward Corbin Fleming missed a tough set shot from the forward pocket to make it three points the difference.

Gisborne then worked the ball forward and locked the ball inside 50 for three or four minutes.

 But much to the Dogs’ frustration they couldn’t land the knockout blow.

They kicked three straight points to extend their lead to six points.

The Roos eventually moved the ball forward where Simon Davies marked 40m out on a worse than 45 degree angle.

On a day where forwards had all sorts of trouble with accuracy, Davies calmly kicked a goal to tie the scores with just seconds on the clock.

Inexplicably, Gisborne had too many players inside the centre square at the bounce and Kangaroo Flat ruckman Nick Lang was paid a free kick.

His 40m pass found Rinaldi on a long lead on the bowls club forward flank.

The siren sounded as Rinaldi lined up his shot.

It was far from a pure drop punt, but Rinaldi’s “floater” somehow escaped the clutches of the Gisborne players on the goal line and thudded into the goal post.

The Roos celebrated one of their best wins in modern times and the Bulldogs were left gutted.

“That is a massive win for our football club,’’ Kangaroo Flat coach Jason Stevens said.

“We’ve been on the wrong end of a couple of close results this year, so to come back like that and win a close one is fantastic.

"We rate Gisborne as one of the top three clubs in the competition, so to do that... I'm very proud of the boys.

"Lucky enough the ball ended up in Cam's hands when the siren went."

Gisborne could blame a horror second quarter in front of goal for the defeat.

After trailing by a goal at the first break, the Bulldogs kicked the first goal of the second term to tie the scores.

They dominated possession for the second term, but kicked eight points and had two shots sail out of bounds on the full.

Instead of going into half-time with a five-goal lead, the Bulldogs led by just one point.

Gisborne had the better of the third term , with lively young forward Pat McKenna kicking three of their four goals.

When Scott Walsh and Lynch kicked the opening two goals of the final term it looked as though the Bulldogs were home.

But it wasn’t to be.

The Bulldogs remain in third place at the halfway mark of the season, but they're now just one game clear of a resurgent Golden Square.

The Roos are equal with Golden Square on 20 points, but have a much inferior percentage.

Most importantly, the Roos are one game clear of sixth-placed Eaglehawk and seventh-placed Kyneton.