The Bulldogs overcame deficits of four goals at half time and one-goal at three quarter time to prevail by three goals in a high-calibre contest against a tough Hawks.

Certain to be a strength for the Bulldogs going forward, their new shooting tandem of Imogen Davies and Delainey Holmes proved their worth early in the piece.

The former Eaglehawk pair missed just four shots on goal all day and were able to nail to several clutch shots late in the contest as the Bulldogs turned a two-goal deficit into a three-goal win.

A stirring victory gave Bulldogs coach Lara Daly a win in her first game at the helm, after taking over the reins earlier this year.

The skilful midcourter could not have been prouder of her side's effort to prevail in a see-sawing encounter.

"It's a massive relief, Huntly played amazing, full credit to them, that last quarter was such a nail-biter. I'm very relieved the first one is out of the way," Daly said post-game.

"It was so tight all day. That last quarter, our defence really stepped up and won us the game.

"And we were so lucky that we were able to rely on our shooters to get those crucial long goals. That was the turning point in the last two minutes.

"Imogen and Delainey are dead-eye, credit to them too, they were amazing."

Daly further praised the defensive efforts of goal keeper Meg McGlone and goal defence Rhiana Broadbent, who will likely concede height to most goalers during the season, but set the tone with their pressure, intercepts and rebound.

For a team looking to return to finals for the first time since 2016, a morale-boosting win over one of last season's finalists was exactly what North Bendigo was looking for.

"We're still learning and we're still gelling, so this hit-out was great," Daly said.

"It will help us to keep learning and to keep reassessing where we need to improve.

"Huntly played an awesome game, so it was great to get across the line."

Echoing the mutual respect between the teams, Huntly coach Emily Eliades was quick to congratulate the Bulldogs on their close win.

For her own side, there was nothing but praise and a belief the Hawks could not have done much more to prevent themselves from securing an early four points.

"There's no disappointment for us, the thing I love about this league is no game is easy. We've played a lot of close games against North and some of those times it's gone our way," Eliades said.

"We've got a few things we still need to iron out. We were missing Sharna Appleby through basketball and she is a big contributor for us in pulling the side together.

"And there are moments where we need to work on our match-fitness, but that will come.

"Our new combination in goals with Chloe (Fletcher) and (new recruit) Sophie (Disher) is still learning to work together.

"We're happy with it, we haven't walked away disappointed at all. It was a real-cracking game, it just went their way in the end."

Both sides took to the court with a solid number of new players, with Davies, Holmes and midcourter Georgie Carmen debuting for the Bulldogs and Disher, centre Kate Cleary - possibly the Hawks' best on Saturday - and Taylah Sartori making their presence felt for Huntly.

In other games, Elmore continued its rampaging early season form with a 47-29 win over Colbinabbin, new Heathcote coach Tyler McKeown started her tenure with a 40-26 win against Lockington Bamawm United, and White Hills rebounded from an opening week loss to Elmore to defeat Leitchville-Gunbower 54-22.

Elmore's victory was its second straight to open the season against one of last season's grand finalists.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.