GOLDEN Square produced an emphatic bounceback performance as it relished the chance to get back on the QEO against arch-rivals Sandhurst on Saturday.

A week after their upset loss at the hands of Eaglehawk, Golden Square coach Christian Carter got just the response he was seeking as his Bulldogs crushed the Dragons by 69 points, 15.15 (105) to 4.12 (36).

The Bulldogs hit the Dragons with a barrage of pressure from the outset and never looked back after kicking the opening three goals of the game.

"To the boys' credit it was a fantastic response on the back of last week," Carter said.

"We really narrowed our focus this week on what we need to do well to beat the good sides and I thought our intent and pressure was fantastic.

"Right from the beginning we were intense and ferocious, which was great to see.

"Our game is built on our defensive pressure and we knew it would have to be at a level today that would force Sandhurst into poor decisions."

The win keeps the Bulldogs a game clear inside the BFNL top three, while the loss for the Dragons - whose outs included star ruckman Hamish Hosking (corked thigh) - leaves them two games outside the top five with four rounds remaining.

Led brilliantly in defence by Jon Coe, the Bulldogs were back to their stifling best, only allowing the Dragons one goal from just five scoring shots in the first half.

Golden Square strangled the Dragons, who were unable to get any flow into their game and executed poorly going inside 50 when the game was there to be won, while the Bulldogs relished the open spaces of the QEO.

The run of youngsters Ricky Monti and Jack Hickman was the next generation of Bulldogs on show, while the work of the Golden Square backline to intercept and then surge was a feature.

Despite the Bulldogs dominating the first half, the game, on the scoreboard at least, was far from over with the Golden Square lead 29 points, 5.9 to 1.4.

Given how much of the ball had been spent in the Golden Square forward line, the Dragons' defence had done well to limit the damage to just five goals.

The Dragons kicked the first goal of the third term after Blair Holmes cleverly used his body to take a one-on-one mark and convert from 35m to get the margin back to 23 points.

However, that would be as close as the Dragons got for the rest of the game as the floodgates opened and the Bulldogs unleashed a procession of goals.

The Bulldogs piled on seven unanswered goals to end the quarter, with the strong hands of gun forward Jayden Burke a highlight.

The star forward duo of Burke (two) and Joel Brett (three) combined for five of the goals during the run of seven in a row as the Bulldogs blew their lead out to 64 points at three quarter-time.

The Bulldogs - who named tough midfielder Ryan Hartley, who set the tone, their best - then finished with a three-goal to two final term to ensure they won all four quarters in what was Jake Thrum's 100^th senior game for the club.

Thrum was busy from the outset winning plenty of the ball on his trusty left foot and also kicked a goal during the third-quarter onslaught.

Brett (five) and Burke (three) finished with eight goals between them for the Bulldogs to be among nine goalkickers as Golden Square avenged its round five loss to the Dragons.

"We were happy with how we were placed at half-time. We didn't capitalise as well as we would have liked, but in that second half we opened up the ground a bit and the spread from our young guys was good," Carter said.

"Our wingers and midfielders got on top and we were able to play a better brand of footy in that second half."

Of the eight losses the Dragons have suffered this year, Saturday was the first where they had been completely outclassed over four quarters on the day in which captain Lee Coghlan played his 200^th game.

In his return from a hamstring injury, Coghlan spent the last quarter on the interchange, but the Dragons said there was no major cause for concern.

The best for the Dragons was led by tenacious small defender Isaac Carracher, who battled admirably all game against a barrage of inside 50s.

Golden Square is at home to Kyneton next Saturday, while Sandhurst - now facing its first finals absence since 2009 - heads to Canterbury Park to take on Eaglehawk.

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