While we can't watch our favourite BFNL clubs in action this September, we can take a look back on the best finals played in recent years.

Today we look at the top five BFNL elimination finals between 2005 and 2019.

The reigning premier Dragons made tough work of their title defence.

With four rounds remaining in the home and away season they looked like they could miss the finals.

The Dragons won their final four games to grab an elimination final berth against a Kyneton side they hadn't beaten in two home and away games that season.

The blustery conditions at the QEO made it tough for both sides and the margin was no greater than 12 points in the first three quarters.

The Dragons' cause wasn't helped by a game-ending injury to ruckman Tim Martin in the third quarter, while the Tigers had big man Dan Davie reported and yellow carded in the second term.

Kyneton star Ben Weightman and full-forward Mitch Scholard looked like being the difference between the two teams when the Tigers grabbed a narrow lead midway through the final term.

However, an 11-minute burst by the Dragons changed the game.

They kicked four unanswered goals through Seb Greene (two), Brodie Montague and Alex Wharton to lead by 23 points.

Just when it appeared the Dragons were home the game swung again.

Two undisciplined Sandhurst acts resulted in Kyneton goals courtesy of 50m penalties awarded to Scholard and Darcy Kelly.

Weightman then marked deep in the forward pocket, but as he was preparing to kick for goal the final siren sounded.

Weightman somehow slotted his sixth goal from the boundary line to bring the final margin back to five points.

Sandhurst 2.4 5.12 7.13 12.18 (90)

Kyneton 4.3 6.3 9.5 13.7 (85)

GOALS: Sandhurst: S. Greene 3, B. Montague 2, Z. East 2, K. Height, P. Craig, B. Holmes, J. Wharton, L. Coghlan. Kyneton: B. Weightman 6, M. Scholard 4, J. Mangan, D. Kelly, T. O'Sullivan.

BEST: Sandhurst: B. Montague, S. Greene, A. Collins, B. Holmes, L. Coghlan, H. Leahy. Kyneton: J. Govan, B. Weightman, T. O'Sullivan, T. Kelly, R. Magin, M. Scholard.

Read more: 50 most dominant seasons in the BFNL, HDFNL, LVFNL, NCFL

When Maryborough won back-to-back BFNL premierships in 1998 and 1999 no-one involved in Bendigo footy thought it would take another 11 years for the club to win its nextfinals m atch.

The Magpies' gutsy 15-point win over Sandhurst in the 2010 elimination was celebrated like a grand final win.

The club had been through a lean period and to beat a power club like Sandhurst on its home turf at the QEO was a proud moment for the Pies.

Early in the match the young Dragons looked the better side.

They dominated possession in the opening quarter, with 18 forward 50 entries to seven, but only led by 14 points at the first break.

The Magpies started to turn the game around with a dominant second term.

Four goals to one for the quarter gave the Magpies a six-point break at half-time.

Kicking to the scoring end in the third quarter, the Dragons needed to get out of the blocks quickly.

But it was the Magpies that grabbed the ascendancy. They had the first six forward entries of the quarter and added 2.3 to grab a 21-point lead.

The Dragons needed a spark and it came through the move of Lee Coghlan to half-forward. He marked and goaled before having a hand in another as the Dragons cut the deficit to seven points at the three quarter-time.

That margin was just one point inside the first minute of the final term after Callum Prest ran into an open goal.

The Dragons had all the momentum, but it was the Magpies who dug deep when it mattered most.

Two Sandhurst defenders spoiled each other and allowed Murray Bond to snap a goal before Matthew Brown marked and goaled to give Maryborough a handy 14-point cushion.

Tom Summerhayes gave the Dragons a sniff when he kicked truly midway through the term.

Fittingly, it was Joel Malone who iced the game for the Pies.

A goal on the run from 25m out steadied the ship, before he grabbed a slips catch diving at full stretch and converted from 20m out to put the Dragons away.

Maryborough ...................2.2 6.5 9.9 13.12 (90)

Sandhurst ..........................4.4 5.5 8.8 11.9 (75)

GOALS - Maryborough: C. Rinaldi 4, J. Malone 3, Murray Bond 2, G. Chadwick, M. Bilton, M. Brown, C. Roscholler. Sandhurst: S. McGee, L. Ruedin 3, M. Thornton 2, L. Coghlan, C. Prest, T. Summerhayes.

BEST - Maryborough: C. Thomson, L. Bucknall, J. Malone, C. Rinaldi, M. Johnston, G. Chadwick. Sandhurst: L. Coghlan, T. Hartney, J. Wilkinson, J. Cozens.

Sandhurst stunned Eaglehawk and the rest of the BFNL in the 2006 elimination final.

The young Dragons shook off a month of average football to knock Eaglehawk out of the premiership race, 15.14 (104) to 12.14 (86).

The Hawks were red-hot favourites going into the match, having won 11 of their past 12 games, while the Dragons had copped a 128-point belting from Gisborne in their final home and away match just a week earlier.

But the Dragons had too much run for the flat Hawks, who were found wanting in the final quarter when the game was up for grabs.

The spark for the Dragons came from skipper Wayne Mitrovic.

Mitrovic had missed five weeks with a hamstring injury, but ended the final with five goals from eight kicks.

He kicked the crucial first goal of the final quarter from a tight angle in the rotunda pocket, which set the confident Dragons on the path to victory.

Sandhurst began the final quarter 11 points down after Eaglehawk kicked the last three goals of the third term to regain the ascendancy.

But within two minutes of the final quarter getting under way, the Dragons had kicked two goals, through Mitrovic and hard-working ruckman James Cozens, to snatch back the lead.

The Dragons pushed their lead out to seven points soon after when Mitrovic outmarked Wayne Burchell and kicked his fifth, but the Hawks hit back with a goal to Josh Ketterer from 45m out to cut the deficit back to one point.

However, Eaglehawk couldn't edge in front, being held to just one behind in the final 20 minutes, while the Dragons added 2.7 to keep their premiership dream alive.

Sandhurst wasted opportunities in front of goal late in the game, with the 18-point margin flattering the Hawks in the end.

Along with Mitrovic in attack, Brenton Hall, who was named an emergency, kicked four goals, including three in the first half, and Sam McGee played another superb game, taking nine marks and kicking two mercurial goals.

Mark Fitzgerald was crucial in the final term, being swung into the ruck and also taking several telling marks around the ground.

Luke Carter shut out key Eaglehawk play-maker Marty O'Rielly and collected 15 possessions himself.

Michael Cornish had an absorbing battle with Eaglehawk star Kain Robins on the wing.

Robins had 30 possessions, but most were on the Hawks' defensive side of the centre square, while Cornish also found plenty of the ball. The Dragons' defence of Malcolm Borchard, Keiran Nihill (23 possessions), Josh Griffin and Sam Barnes rebounded superbly all day, and in another key duel, Marc Millard did a fine job in restricting the influence of Eaglehawk's Linton Jacobs.

The Dragons showed an enormous amount of faith in 18-year-old Tom Hartney, playing him on Eaglehawk coach Derrick Filo, who kicked three goals.

The Bulldogs overcame an injury-riddled Sandhurst in a fiery elimination final.

After a first half littered with off the ball physical clashes between the two teams, the critical moment of the game came midway through the third quarter.

The Dragons led the Bulldogs by 15 points in a low-scoring contest in the third quarter before the momentum of the game swung in Square's favour when Sandhurst star Andrew Collins laid a late, high tackle on Bulldogs' defender Braydon Welsh in front of the Barnard Street end goals.

The incident sparked a heated melee, where punches were thrown by players from both teams.

When the melee cleared Collins was reported for unnecessary rough play and he was shown a yellow card.

Collins, who left the ground sporting a large bump on his cheekbone, was the only player reported.

A short time later at the other end of the ground Sandhurst forward Jake McLean was bumped in the head by Square star Adam Baird.

McLean suffered concussion and had blood pouring down his face as he left the ground. The Dragons received a free kick.

While Collins spent his 15 minutes plus time-on on the bench, the Bulldogs regained control of the game.

Already hampered by game-ending injuries to Blair Holmes (calf) and Matt Thornton (hamstring), the Dragons lost McLean for the remainder of the game.

While Sandhurst played with 17 men and just one fit player on the bench, Square added four goals to none to lead by two goals five minutes into the final quarter.

Collins returned to the field at the six-minute mark of the final term and coach Ashley Connick sent him straight to full-forward.

The move worked.

In a five-minute burst Collins kicked three goals to give the Dragons an unlikely five-point lead.

From the 15-minute mark of the final term the Dragons didn't score again.

Joel Wharton (shoulder) and Alex Wharton (knee) played on despite injuries.

In crunch time it was Golden Square's young players who stepped up and took their chances.

Bendigo Pioneer Braydon Vaz marked and kicked truly for the second time in the quarter to regain the lead for the Doggies heading into time-on.

Sandhurst continued to push, but Square's defence was resolute with Jon Coe and Jake Thrum denying the Dragons scoring opportunities.

It was another promising Golden Square youngster who landed the knockout blow.

After seeing off a number of Sandhurst forward thrusts, the Bulldogs swept the ball forward and Callum Draper ran onto the loose ball and calmly slotted home a right-foot snap in front of the elated Square supporters in the pool changerooms forward pocket.

Sandhurst didn't have any run left in its legs to prodce two late goals and Square forward Hamish Morcom iced the Bulldog cake with a left-foot goal on the run in the dying seconds

Golden Square 2.2 4.4 6.6 11.11 (77)

Sandhurst 2.0 5.0 7.2 10.2 (62)

GOALS: Golden Square: T. Baird 2, B. Vaz 2, D. Lowry, J. Thrum, J. Burke, L. Barrett, H. Morcom, S. Brinsmead, C. Draper. Sandhurst: A. Collins 3, M. Thornton 2, J. Rodi, J. Pallpratt, Z. Pallpratt, J. McLean, L. Zimmer.

BEST: Golden Square: C. Draper, D. Lowry, B. Vaz, J. Thrum, T. Baird, J. Geary. Sandhurst: C. Down, N. Stagg, J. Pallpratt, L. Ireland, L. Ross, Z. Pallpratt.

The 2007 elimination final was a tale of two halves as South Bendigo outlasted Golden Square by 18 points.

South Bendigo set up its win with a brilliant first half, kicking 10 goals to Golden Square's three.

Even with athletic forward Leigh Burke sidelined because of an ankle injury, South Bendigo's key forwards James Burke and Dayne Frew were in menacing form as they capitalised on the good midfield play of Cameron Hall, Brady Childs, Daniel Bevan and Neville Clark.

The 46-point half-time margin flattered Square as it failed to give a yelp in the opening two quarters.

With key forward Matt O'Toole a late withdrawal, Square lacked options in attack and South's defence controlled the game superbly.

Grant Tasca, Marty Shadbolt and Leigh Rees took more contested marks on the day than Golden Square forwards.

The way South Bendigo dominated the first half a 100-point plus result for the second-straight day was not out of the question.

But a combination of Golden Square lifting its intensity and South Bendigo's inability to maintain its standard of play saw thegame turn in the third term.

All of a sudden it was South Bendigo who was under pressure when it took possession and Golden Square started to win some of the contested ball.

But for all of their good work, the Bulldogs couldn't put scoreboard pressure on South Bendigo.

A string of gettable chances went wide as Square could only add 1.8 to South Bendigo's 0.3 and the margin was still 35 points at the last change.

Golden Square skipper Chris Carter kicked the first goal of the final term to give his side a chance.

Minutes later the margin should have been less that four goals, but Stacy Fiske missed a golden opportunity on the run.

To make matters worse for Square, South livewire Josh Dawson then found space inside forward 50 and snapped truly to give the Bloods a 35-point lead again halfway through the quarter.

The Bulldogs dug deep and quick goals to Fiske and Adrian McErvale reduced the margin to 23 points.

At the 19-minute mark, Carter recieved a free kick and booted his second goal for the quarter and the Bulldogs were within 17 points and had all the momentum.

That momentum was quashed after the resulting centre bounce. A Hall clearance was marked by Dawson just outside forward 50, but when Fiske ran across the mark the Bloods were awarded a 50 m penalty and Dawson kicked his third goal for the game from the goalsquare.

Moments later Dayne Frew marked and goalled to seal the deal for the Bloods.

South Bendigo .................. 5.1 10.7 10.10 13.13 (91)

Golden Square ..................... 2.1 3.3 4.11 10.13 (73)

GOALS - South Bendigo: Dayne Frew, J. Dawson 3, J. Keely, D. Bevan, J. Burke 2, E. Dickins. Golden Square: C. Carter, L. Davies 2, S. Fiske, A. Hawkins, M. Klein-Breteler, A. McErvale, J. Walsh, M. Adamson.

Best - South Bendigo: G. Tasca, C. Hall, D. Bevan, J. Burke, B. Childs, R. Connaughton, L. Rees. Golden Square: D. Walsh, H. Dahl, L. O'Toole, C. Kent.

Read more: Catch up on all the latest local footy news

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