The Bombers scrapped home by one point against Huntly at Strauch Reserve - the club's first win since it defeated Huntly in round 16 of the 2019 season.

The Bombers led by 10 points at the final change before withstanding a stirring Huntly surge in the last quarter to win, 13.8 (84) to 11.17 (83).

The Bombers' rooms were abuzz after the win as new senior coach Tim Bannan and his playing group sung the club song with gusto.

"It was pretty awesome to get that win,'' Bannan said.

"First time as a senior coach to get a win and some of the boys hadn't had a win for something like 998 days.

"Their resilience was just fantastic, I couldn't be prouder of them.

"We have a long way to go, but for the young guys to experience that win and for the new guys to see what it meant to everyone....it was pretty special.

"I had a tear in my eye watching the boys celebrate."

The Bombers could have been out of the game by quarter-time, but the wayward Hawks let them off the hook by kicking 3.7 to 1.1.

The Hawks left the door open for the Bombers and they swooped by kicking 5.1 in the second term to close the gap to seven points at the main break.

The self-belief and confidence grew for the Bombers, particulary with new forward Blake Azzopardi in dominant form inside forward 50.

Azzopardi, who finished with seven goals, proved to be the difference between the teams as he made the most of every opportunity that came his way.

"Huntly came at us really hard in that final quarter and the boys stood up really well under pressure,'' Bannan said.

"The ball spent a lot of time between the two 50m lines in the final few minutes and, thankfully, we had possession of the ball when the siren sounded."

Josh Hawken, new ruckman Jobee Warde and Azzopardi were best for the elated Bombers.

"Josh played across half-back and through the mids and played a quarterback-type role for us,'' Bannan said.

"He was really important for us, he took some risks and left his man and set up plenty of play.

"Jobee Warde was sensational in the ruck. He plays like a fourth on-baller for us.

"Blake is only 20 or 21 and is coming off a major ankle operation. He took some great marks for us after half-time and is really steady with the ball.

"As a group, we're coming along. There's some confidence in the group, but they're not going too far with it because they know we've got a long way to go."

Assistant coach Tyler Miles, Jaydon Cowling and Jay McDonald were best for a Huntly side that will be doing extra goalkicking practice this week.

18-year-old Cody Riddick had North Bendigo officials searching the record books after he led the Bulldogs to a 10-goal win over Elmore at Atkins Street on Saturday.

Riddick kicked seven goals as the Bulldogs turned a 14-point half-time lead into a big 19.20 (134) to 11.8 (74) win.

Riddick had a day to remember, kicking 17 goals in total for the day.

"Cody kicked 10 goals in three-and-a-bit quarters in the thirds and then came off for a spell,'' Bennett said.

"He got his hands on the footy in the seniors and kicked seven. He created a bit of excitement among the North Bendigo fans.

"We were talking in the social rooms after the game about the last time an 18-year-old kicked seven goals in a senior game for the club and no-one could put their finger on when the last time would have been."

Bennett said the Bulldogs made some adjustments at half-time that helped fend off the plucky Bloods.

"Elmore made it a real contest in the first half and we didn't kick straight,'' Bennett said.

"We were probably having too many shots from too far out. At half-time we spoke about getting our entries deeper and lowering our eyes, which we did well in the second-half.

Read more: All of the weekend's BFNL and HDFNL scores

"It was a help that for the first time for the season we didn't lose one or two players to injury early in the game. That allowed us to rotate a lot and helped us run out the game really strongly."

Bennett said the young players at Atkins Street were having a major influence on the success of the side.

"We had three under-18s play today - Cody (Riddick), Riley Paetow played his first senior game and Zandyr Barilari has played all three games in the seniors,'' Bennett said.

"The excitement that these kids bring is great and they haven't looked out of place at all."

Ruckman Riley Gow was best for the Bulldogs after a tireless performance, while midfielders Aaryn Craig and Nathan Newlan won plenty of the ball.

Elmore's cause wasn't helped by a game-ending injury in the first-half to star ruckman/midfielder and co-coach Dylan Gordon.

Tannar Cerrone, Nicholas Palmer, Zack Holmberg were best for an Elmore side that is good enough to be competitive with the top sides, but struggles to string together four quarters of footy.

When Ben Weightman, Adam Baird and Chris Down are in Mt Pleasant's best players there's a very good chance the Blues have had a big day.

That was the case on Saturday as Mt Pleasant moved to 2-0 on the back of a comfortable 76-point win over White Hills at Toolleen.

Weightman and Baird caused havoc through the midfield and inside forward, kicking seven goals between them, while Down took advantage of the Demons' lack of height to dominate the ruck in the 21.13 (139) to 9.9 (63) win.

"It was a bit opposite to what we did last week - this week we actually kicked straight,'' a happy Mounts' coach Darren Walsh said.

"Last week we kicked 13.20, this week we kicked 21.13. We were on top early, but it probably wasn't until the third quarter that we broke the game open."

New key forward Dean Tydell bagged six goals for Mounts, while Zane Keighran and Fletcher White impressed in defence.

"Fletcher was really good. He's played forward and midfield as a junior, but he has really good footy smarts and reads the play well, so he is suited to the backline as well,'' Walsh said.

The positive for the Demons was the performance of second-gamer Sam Lowes, who was his side's best player.

Kaiden Skelton, Jake Dickens and Rhys Irwin also battled hard for the Demons.

White Hills is 0-2 after two games against arguably the two best sides in the competition.

The Demons face another stern test next Saturday when they host North Bendigo.

Realistically, Mounts should win their first five games before facing LBU in round six.

Lockington-Bamawm United's superior depth came to the fore in its 81-point win over Heathcote.

The Cats had 10 individual goalkickers and 41 scoring shots to 15 in the 19.22 (136) to 8.7 (55) win against the Saints.

Veteran Jeremy Mundie had a swag of possessions off half-back for the Cats

Ruckman Tyler Phillips was the premier big man on the ground, Rhys Woodland kicked four goals in attack and Thomas Leech had plenty of the ball.

Connor Hamilton, Jordan Cavallaro and key forward Jack Brooks were best for Heathcote.

The Saints face another big test next week at home against Mounts.

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