The Storm tried to bridge the gap in the final quarter, even outscoring the Bulldogs in the final 15 minutes of play, but it wasn’t enough.

Golden Square held on to win its fifth-straight game of the season.

The final score was 42 to 33.

Golden Square coach Lia Marrone said it was a close game.

“We tried to pull away but Strath kept pulling it back in,” she said.

“There were some great passages of play and some scrappy play.

“Overall everyone played well, but we need to work on putting together a full four quarters.”

Only five goals separated the two teams at half-time, however the Bulldogs came out firing in the third quarter.

“At half-time it was just about refocusing on the basics,” Marrone said.

“We talked about driving through the ball and switching quickly from attack to defence.”

Marrone said goal shooter Abbey Ryan was the best player on the court.

She also praised the efforts of A-graders Meg Gilbert and Allira Holmes.

Golden Square now has the week off due to the Bendigo Football Netball League split round.

Marrone said all six Golden Square teams will come together next week and do some team bonding before attacking the second half of the season.

“We have lots to work on in the second half, goaler rotations, defensive pressure and set plays,” she said.

“We need to improve on keeping our focus for the full game.”

Storm coach Maleta Roberts said she was pleased with her team's efforts. 

"A completely different team hit the court yesterday and that showed," she said. 

"The girls fought until the end."

Roberts said the difference between the two sides was that the Storm panicked, had too many errors and missed goals. 

She said the aim of the second half of the season was overcoming the opposition's pressure and moving the ball quicker from defence into attack.

In the second match of the weekend, Kyneton defeated Eaglehawk by 29 goals on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers jumped out of the blocks in the first quarter, scoring 18 goals.

Kyneton continued to build throughout the match, increasing its lead at every change.

The final score was 64 to 35. 

Kyneton has won six of their past seven games and sit on top of the ladder. 

Eaglehawk has won just one game this season. 

The remaining round 10 games will be played next Saturday.