NORTH Bendigo has maintained its stranglehold over Heathcote, turning a marquee match-up that promised plenty into a fizzer in the Heathcote District league on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a clash of two of the expected top flag contenders North Bendigo put the Saints to the sword, crushing Heathcote by 61 points at Barrack Reserve, 18.18 (126) to 9.11 (65).
It was the 20th-consecutive win by the Bulldogs over the Saints, who still haven't beaten North Bendigo since 2013.
The Bulldogs are proving to be the masters of the fast starts in the HDFNL this year, again getting off to a flyer as they led Heathcote by 39 points, 6.5 to 0.2, at quarter-time.
In their three games so far the unbeaten Bulldogs have outscored their opposition 114-12 in first quarters.
"We set ourselves to start really well and that's two weeks in a row now where we've kept the opposition goal-less in the first quarter, so that has been pleasing," North Bendigo coach Rob Bennett said.
"We demand everyone to be physical around the contest and put their heads over the footy and I felt that in the little 50-50 contests we were able to get the run of them early on."
Heathcote coach Andrew Saladino conceded the Bulldogs played with far more vigour than his side did when the game was there to be won.
"North got the jump on us again and that has now happened three of the past four times we've played them," Saladino said.
"We were absolutely shellshocked in that first quarter, which was very disappointing.
"North Bendigo really taught us a lesson in workrate, their spread from the contest was good and to be completely honest, they put their heads over the footy and we didn't.
"We didn't bring any heat or intensity in the first quarter and it set the tone for the whole day."
As well as their flying start, the Bulldogs also closed the game out strongly with a five-goal to one final quarter as they dished out an old fashioned reality check to the Saints, who suffered their first loss of the season.
Across the second and third quarters the Saints did outscore the Bulldogs eight goals to seven, but when the whips were cracking early they were found wanting and the damage had been done.
The standout player on the ground for the Bulldogs was ball magnet midfielder Nick Waterson.
"Nick was enormous for us today; he would have had leather poisoning with the amount of ball he had," Bennett said.
"What was really good about today was our younger players were sensational for us.
"Riley Pateow, Bailey Cain early, Will Gilmore and Jake Dean were all super for us."
Key forward Dylan Klemm (four), Hakeem Johnson (three), Jake Dean (two), Billy Robertson (two) and Waterson (two) were all multiple goalkickers for the Bulldogs.
While the Bulldogs had plenty of contributors in the win, it was a different tale for the Saints.
"I said to the boys post-game that this could be the best thing that could happen for us... numbers at training haven't been great, so absolutely it's a reality check for us," Saladino said.
"It was really hard to pick best players for us today; James Orr battled really hard in the ruck for four quarters and probably got on top in there, but our midfield just got absolutely smashed. It just wasn't a good day at all."
HUNTLY v LBU
Huntly celebrated its first win under new coach Hamish Morcom with a 34-point victory at home over Lockington-Bamawm United.
Set up by a strong first half the Hawks triumphed 13.12 (90) to 8.8 (56).
In an encouraging sign of improvement for Huntly, on the corresponding weekend last year the Hawks lost to the Cats by 72 points, with Saturday's result a 106-point turnaround.
"It's a good feeling around the club tonight to get the first win early in the season," Morcom said.
"We spoke before the game about having 22 contributors. Last week (104 point loss to Mount Pleasant) we probably only had five to seven blokes who could put their hand up and say they played their role.
"Today it felt like there were 22 blokes who contributed. The big spread of players of who our bench thought were the best compared to who people in the crowd thought were our best showed all the contributions we had and that's what we're going to need to play our best footy."
In what was an even team performance it was Abe Sladden who got the nod as the Hawks' best player.
"Abe provided plenty of lead-up options and kicked a couple of goals as well," Morcom said.
"He put in a massive pre-season and it's good to see that work is paying off for him."
Also outstanding for the Hawks was experienced in-and-under on-baller and Morcom's former Golden Square team-mate Dale Lowry.
"His first half in particular was probably as good footy as I've seen from him for five years," Morcom said.
"He turned back the clock and it was great to see him in that form he showed today."
Lachy Wilson was a strong focal point inside 50 for the Hawks, kicking five goals.
After a first-up win over Leitchville-Gunbower, Lockington-Bamawm United has now lost three games in a row to be on the backfoot.
2022 premiership trio Jeremy Mundie, Brodie Collins and Jacob Gardiner led the best for the Cats, who now have a week off with the bye to regroup.
WHITE HILLS v COLBINABBIN
White Hills dominated Colbinabbin after quarter-time to post a 72-point victory at Scott Street.
The Grasshoppers after an inaccurate first term narrowly led by four points at quarter-time, 1.6 to 1.2, but the Demons kicked 15 goals to four over the remainder of the match to win 16.15 (111) to 5.9 (39) and remain one of two unbeaten teams after four rounds alongside North Bendigo.
"Colbo came out and had a real crack," White Hills co-coach Kaiden Antonowicz said.
"They didn't allow us to play with flair early, but once we were able to break the game open and get our hands on the footy we were able to put the score on the board."
It was another strong defensive performance from the Demons, who in their four wins this year have conceded an average of just 47 points.
"Our defence has been rock solid," Antonowicz said.
"We've got a great balance of both lockdown and running players in our backline and it's a great luxury to have a player of the calibre of Nick Warnock... if it comes within 20m of him he gets to the contest and most times he's marking it.
"And Alex Davis has been unbelievable in one-on-ones in our backline. If he's not taking the mark then he's making it hard for his opponent."
At the other end of the ground the Demons had a good spread of goalkickers led by co-coaches Antonowicz and Jack Fallon with three each, while Warnock also showed his versatility in attack with three goals.
Midfielder Ryan Walker and defender Davis headed the best for the Demons, while in Colbinabbin's third loss in a row it was the pair of Nathan Basile and Jude Ryan who have been their side's most consistent players this season who were their standouts.
LEITCHVILLE-GUNBOWER v ELMORE
Leitchville-Gunbower squared its ledger at 2-2, while keeping Elmore winless.
The Bombers doubled the Bloods' score in winning 14.12 (96) to 7.6 (48) at Gunbower.
Fraser Buchanan (four), Tom Brereton (three) and Nathan McLellan (three) combined for 10 goals for the Bombers, whose best was Mitch Candy.
The Bloods were best served by ruckman Cobi Fitzpatrick and James Harney (four goals).
"Leitchy showed they are a very handy side. For us it was one of those days where we played 10 minutes in each quarter, but just couldn't sustain it for long enough," Elmore football manager Mick Woolhouse said.
"It's just not clicking for us at the moment, so we've got to keep working away."
