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SO CLOSE, but yet so far.
That's how the BDCA's double-header weekend for Golden Square could be described, with two tight losses leaving the Bulldogs second-last on the ladder after five rounds.
Last Saturday the Bulldogs were pipped by two wickets by Strathfieldsaye, with the Jets chasing down Square's 8-141 with six balls to spare.
Then on Sunday the Bulldogs had themselves in a position of dominance against Strathdale-Maristians.
Defending their 7-147 at Bell Oval, the Bulldogs had the Suns reeling at 8-83 in reply, but were unable to deliver the knockout blow and were beaten by one wicket with three balls to spare.
"And if you look back at the Kangaroo Flat game (round two), we had them under pressure as well when they were chasing, but couldn't finish it off," Bulldogs captain Liam Smith said on Thursday.
"So we've pushed the two top teams down to the wire, but just haven't been able to sneak over the line.
"We certainly take positives that we've shown we can match it with the best teams, but it's just a matter of being able to put those performances together against all the teams.
"Apart from when Eaglehawk beat us quite convincingly in round one (69 runs), we've been in every other game we've played."
A 1-4 record doesn't do justice to just how competitive the Bulldogs have been so far, but they are now nine points adrift of the top four.
Having already played three sides currently in the top four, the draw does open up for the Bulldogs now, with their next three games against Bendigo (8th), White Hills (7th) and Sandhurst (6th).
However, the Bulldogs need to start spreading the load off of both Smith and fellow all-rounder Scott Trollope.
Despite the Bulldogs having just one win on the board, Trollope (423 points) and Smith (365) are at No.1 and No.2 in the Addy MVP rankings.
Smith has taken on a new role this season, batting at No.3 for the first time in his career and so far has 156 runs, including two half-centuries.
Addy MVP leaders:
423 - Scott Trollope
386 - Liam Smith
365 - Grant Waldron
344 - Dylan Gibson
343 - James Vlaeminck
342 - Brent Hamblin
342 - Cameron Taylor
305 - Kyle Humphrys
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