BENDIGO Dragons’ Gridiron Victoria season is off to a winning start following a powerful 42-14 victory against Ballarat Falcons in the annual Goldfields Bowl last Saturday night.
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Played in testing conditions at Ballarat, the Dragons were slow to start and struggled to overcome penalties on offence on every drive.
The deadlock was broken when tight end Beau Kielty recovered a fumble and rushed in for a touchdown.
This sparked the Dragons’ offence and defence into action in the second half and they quickly took control of the game.
Damaging rushes by newcomer Raymond Hender set up touchdowns to Joseph Hughes, Jarrod Prentice, Michael Brandon and Ben Hughes.
In addition to the Dragons firepower on offence, the defence was well lead by again Beau Kielty, Ben Hughes and Ryan Prout; all making interceptions in good field positions.
The 2018 Gridiron Victoria finds the Dragons back in division one and they hope this successful start is evidence of what will follow this season.
Head coach Matthew Plathe said: "It's great to have the Goldfields Bowl back in Bendigo for another year, but we've got a big season ahead and more importantly, bigger opponents coming our way.
“We're focusing on week three now.”
The Dragons have a bye in round two this weekend before heading to Melbourne to face the Croydon Rangers on August 18.
In other round one results, Monash Warriors defeated Melton Wolves 38-0, Western Crusaders defeated Monash Barbarians 64-0, Pakenham Silverbacks defeated Peninsula Sharks 42-6 and Melbourne University defeated Croydon Rangers 20-15.
