GISBORNE staged a stunning second half revival against Kangaroo Flat to win its first game of the BFNL season on Saturday.
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In a turnaround that seemingly came from nowhere given how poorly the Bulldogs had played in the first half, they sprung to life with 10 goals to two after the main break to prevail 12.8 (80) to 9.10 (64) at Dower Park.
While the Bulldogs now have a victory on the board, the Roos are still winless and will no doubt be rueing the one that got away after blowing a 34-point lead at half-time.
After kicking just two goals in what was an error-riddled first half from the Bulldogs, they turned the game on its head with a third-quarter blitz in which they slammed on 6.3 to no score.
The Bulldogs’ resurgence began in the middle where they were able to gain control of the centre square and move the ball forward with the fluency that had been sorely lacking in the first half.
Having trailed 7.6 to 2.2 at half-time, the Bulldogs’ charge began in the opening five minutes of the third term when Andre Headberry and Trent Crosbie both nailed set-shot goals.
A Jack Baker goal followed, and when Clinton Young provided one of the highlights of the day with a goal from 55m, the margin had been cut to just eight points and the Bulldogs had all the momentum.
The Roos – who became just a shadow of their efforts in the first half – seemed helpless to halt the onslaught as a crumbing goal to Riley Paterson followed, and when Shannon Greetham converted a fee kick, it gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead to take into three quarter-time.
The Roos regained the lead six minutes into the final term when co-coach Corey Greer marked well and kicked truly to put his side one point up, but the floodgates then opened and the contest was killed off as the Bulldogs slammed on four goals in nine minutes that started with a Jack Baker set-shot in the pocket.
Earlier, the game had been all one-way traffic in the first half as the Roos – who led by as many as 40 points – were all over the Bulldogs with their quick ball movement, pressure at the contest and domination of possession that kept the Gisborne defence under constant pressure.
The Roos’ Charlie Bowyer provided a strong target in attack with three first-half goals, including two from long range.
“They were much harder at the contest than we were and used the ball a lot better in the first half,” Gisborne coach Brad Spear said.
“It felt like we were 10 goals down at half-time, but we were only five-and-a-bit, so I tried to use that as a bit of a positive in that we were still in touch. In the second half we found a bit of energy, tackled better, got some outside run and goals were going through.”