Set alight by on-ballers Tom May, Tom Waters and Isaac Trickey the Bulldogs increased their advantage at every break on their way to a 20.23 (143) to 5.4 (34) victory.

And the Graveyard Dogs bolstered their percentage by more than 13 percent in a year where that statistic could be season-defining for finals-bound clubs.

The Magpies once again were competitive at the inside contests. But as soon as the Dogs spread the ball away from the packs and scrimmages their outside runners took control.

Key forward Jarrad Lynch slotted four of his five goals in the opening half as the Dogs weren’t just restricted to marking targets.

Gisborne had a spread of 10 goal-kickers on the day with Shaun Comerford, Casey Summerfield, Trickey and Patrick McKenna joining in the scoring spree.

It took Castlemaine 20 minutes into the opening term to post a major. On-baller Amareh Elmi drilled the Magpies first and after Tallan Wright had marked a long ball into the front half the home side had their second goal.

That served just to diminish the gap to 35 points as Gisborne stretched the advantage in the second term. Although the Magpies had their most productive quarter, adding three goals, the Dogs booted 4.5 with Trickey’s long, accurate shot one of the highlights of the first half.

The Magpies posted what was to be their last major of the game after the half-time siren. Kamen Ogilvie calmly drilled the Pies’ fifth goal to reduce the Bulldogs’ lead to 46 points.

Gisborne blew the Magpies away after the long break. As they added 9.1 to two behinds Dogs’ defenders Tim Walsh, Ben Sonogan and Cam Medica shut down the home side’s attack.

Although the Magpies’ Tom Godsell was competitive in the ruck duels, Waters’ sweeping handballs across the midfield opened up countless forward forays.

The match petered out with the Bulldogs nailing two late final quarter majors to Patrick Trotta and May, both from undisciplined, Magpie 50m frees.

Bulldog coach Rodney Sharp said it was gratifying to see his players taking on more run and carry roles than in the past few rounds.

“That was good, to take on the game as we should have. And we kept Castlemaine goalless in the second half, so our defensive efforts were outstanding,” he said.

Match statistics - Inside 50s: Gisborne 62, Castlemaine 37. Marks inside 50 – Gisborne 22, Castlemaine 4.