Sandhurst denied arch-rival Golden Square victory in its historic first game under lights at Wade Street on Saturday night.
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Superior efficiency forward of centre was the difference between the two teams as the Dragons won 11.10 (76) to 6.18 (54).
On top of the defeat, the Bulldogs also lost skipper Jack Geary to injury after he copped a heavy blow to this right eye midway through the first term.
The star midfielder didn’t return to action.
The Bulldogs were left to lament wasted opportunities in front of the big sticks.
Their first 10 scores were behinds and they didn’t kick their first goal until the 23 minute mark of the second quarter.
The Dogs were within 10 points of the Dragons midway through the third term, but Sandhurst broke the game open with four unanswered goals in an eight minute burst.
The Dragons opened up what appeared to be a match-winning 33-point lead, but the Bulldogs refused to give in.
By three quarter-time the margin was back to 21 points and in the final term they got as close as 14 points before the Dragons capitalised on a couple of Square errors and steadied the ship.
Midfielders Joel Wharton, Lee Coghlan and Blair Holmes were best for the Dragons, while key forward Matt Thornton kicked two goals and was the best big man on the ground.
Travis Baird, who was hampered by a leg injury, relished the opportunity to play out of the goal square for the Bulldogs.
He was aggressive, put on a lot of forward pressure and marked the ball strongly. He kicked 4.6 and some of those misses were chances he’d normally nail.
Despite the absence of injured defender Brayden Dorrington, Square’s defence held up well. Jon Coe, Jake Thrum and Clayton Anderson were rock solid.