FOR the second week in a row Golden Square restricted a fellow top-five side to just one goal in the second half as the Bulldogs improved to 7-3 in the BFNL on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs held a slender one-point advantage over Sandhurst at half-time, before kicking six goals to one after the main break to record a 14.9 (93) to 9.10 (64) victory at Wade Street.
A week earlier against Kyneton the Bulldogs booted eight goals to one in the second half having been two points down at half-time.
In total across their past two games the Bulldogs have kicked 14.7 to 2.15 in the second halves of contests that were there for the taking at half-time.
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The win keeps the Bulldogs within two points of the top three, while the Dragons (5-5) have dropped out of the top five and with the surging Gisborne in solid form, now look to have a fight on their hands just to make the finals.
One of the key differences between the two sides was the Bulldogs having two strong marking targets inside 50 in Jayden Burke (two goals) and Dylan Johnstone (three), whereas the Dragons didn’t have any of their forwards impose themselves on the contest.
Burke’s strong overhead marking was a standout feature in his battle with the Dragons’ Lachlan Ross.
The fact Burke was able to impact the game the way he did was more telling given that as late as Thursday night he was in doubt to take his place in the side with the dislocated finger that kept him sidelined the previous week.
The Golden Square side featured two first-gamers in Harry McCormick and Thomson Goode, taking the number of players used by the Bulldogs this season to 40 after just 10 games.
McCormick kicked one of the Bulldogs’ five goals in the first quarter as the home side gained the early ascendancy in what was a first half of momentum shifts.
The Bulldogs led by 21 points early in the second quarter, 6.3 to 3.0, and were on top in the all-important midfield battle, but the Dragons responded, kicking five of the next six goals to briefly take the lead before Hamish Morcom floated over the top of a pack to mark and convert, giving Golden Square a one-point half-time advantage.
Morcom’s game ended though in the third term with a shoulder injury.
The Bulldogs – who were fierce with their tackling pressure from the outset and didn’t let-up all game – added 2.2 to 0.3 in the third term and at three quarter-time the game was still up for grabs with Golden Square ahead by 12 points.
There was still just two kicks in it midway through the final quarter, but the Bulldogs were finally able to shrug off the Dragons with three goals in a row to Jake Thrum, Jack Geary and Johnstone.
Burke was named the Bulldogs’ best player, while skipper Geary through the midfield was also among the side’s standouts in a game where he left the field during the first quarter after a heavy landing from a mark, but he returned in the second term.
Square’s Matt Compston in the ruck in his key match-up against Tim Martin also played another fine game.
The Dragons’ best players were led by coach Andrew Collins (two goals, both in the first quarter), Zeb Broadbent, who won plenty of ball, and Zac East.