Golden Square consolidated its grip on the BFNL ladder's third spot with a commanding 102-point trouncing of Kyneton at Wade Street on Saturday.
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With ace playmaker Adam Baird moved into a key forward post, a position he made the most of to slot six goals, the Bulldogs stretched their advantage at each quarter break.
The Tigers sprung a surprise with the late inclusion of big spearhead Nathan Thompson, but he was well held by Will Lee and managed just one second quarter major.
Including Baird, the Square had four players who speared home three goals or more with the Tigers unable to effectively match-up on, let alone close down, Mitchell Treacy, Alex Marklew and Jordan Rosengren.
Add in the shut-down contributions of defenders Lee, Jon Coe and Hamish Morcom and it was clear early on in the game that the Golden Square Bulldogs would run out convincing winners as they cruised home to an eventual 19.15 (129) to 4.3 (27) victory.
Baird had the first goal on the board at the 1:30 mark of the opening term before Rosengren snapped accurately from the half-forward line at the Wade Street end.
Kyneton centre half-back James Orr pulled in a 'screamer' in front of the visiting coaches box although he injured himself upon landing and didn't see out the match.
Thompson was yellow carded and sent off with 1:40 still to play.
A skirmish had escalated not far out from the goalmouth at the Maple Street end and the umpire sent the big Tiger trotting off to serve his 15 minutes on the bench.
The Dogs added six goals to one in the second stanza with Treacy on fire across half-forward.
He nailed three of his five goals with his second - an excellent set shot from 50m out - the pick of the bunch.
Tigers' playing coach Luke Beattie snapped a reply with his high, bouncing shot just rolling over the goal line.
The home side added only 4.3 in the third term yet restricted Kyneton to 1.1. Rosengren's long, high kick made it through the big sticks for the Bulldogs' opening goal of the second half.
A melee involving a large bunch of players erupted close to the Kyneton coaching box, but it didn't slow the Square down as Treacy and the pacy Marklew added more goals.
Liam Barrett was behind many of the Golden Square forward thrusts and finished in the Dogs' best.
Again Marklew and Baird booted goals early on in the final term with Kyneton's ability to get into their forward 50 virtually nil.
Rhys Magin, Josh Govan and ruckman Darcy Harris had worked hard all match although Harris' battle with Matt Compston ended slightly in the Square big man's favour.
Baird was unstoppable inside Square's 50 adding three final quarter majors to give him top billing as the major goalscorer on the day.
The toe poke which landed him his fifth was opportunism at its best - classic Baird finishing.
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