South Bendigo secures first BFNL win at Wade Street in 14 years

The 11.10 (76) to 11.9 (75) was the Bloods' first win over the Dogs at any venue since 2018 and their first at Wade Street since 2009.

In between times they've been on the end of some hidings, which made Saturday's victory even sweeter.

"We haven't beaten Square much in the past 14 or 15 years, so to see the smiles on the faces of people who have been around the club for a long time was pretty special,'' South Bendigo coach Nathan Horbury said.

"For the players, some of them had never played in a win against Square anywhere, let alone Wade Street.

"Square is a good footy side and I still think they'll be hard to beat at the pointy end of the season, but a result like that gives us belief that we can beat the good sides in the competition.

"It was a big step in the right direction for us."

The Bloods moved into third place on the ladder, with a 3-1 record, while the Dogs slipped out of the top five after dropping their second game on the trot.

Eaglehawk and Sandhurst defeated Castlemaine and Strathfieldsaye respectively on Saturday to be the only unbeaten teams in the BFNL through four rounds.

For the opening 15 minutes of Saturday's game it appeared as though the Bloods were in for another edition of nightmare on Wade Street.

Square kicked the opening four goals and the Bloods couldn't get their hands on the ball.

Crucially, the Bloods kicked two late goals and went into the break down by two goals when it could have quite easily been 30 points plus.

The Bloods carried that momentum into the second quarter, adding four goals to one for the term.

The teams went goal-for-goal in an enthralling third quarter and the Dogs led by the narrowest of margins with a quarter to play.

After nine goals were kicked in the third quarter, the final term was a low-scoring slog.

A Will Keck goal from deep on the forward flank midway through the quarter gave the Bloods a seven-point lead.

They appeared to have the game in hand until Square skipper Jack Geary stood up under pressure to kick his third goal to cut the deficit to a point.

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Square still had plenty of time to force a draw or pinch victory.

When Tom Strauch burst clear from a stoppage on the wing it looked as though the Dogs were going to create a deep scoring opportunity, but Bloods' midfielder Oscar White produced a brilliant chase down tackle to earn a free kick.

Square's defence repelled South's forward move and swept the ball to the Dogs' half-forward flank on the scoreboard side.

South forced a stoppage and the final siren sounded seconds later.

"I don't think we had a forward 50 entry for the first 15 minutes,'' Horbury said.

"They were all over us, but we managed to kick two goals late in the first quarter.

"Our second quarter was super, we got the game back on our terms and played our brand of footy.

"We know that when we play our footy it stacks up against the best.

"Square came hard at us in the last quarter, so it was good to hang on.

"Over the past couple of years we've done a lot of match simulation (on running down the clock).

"We've trained for those situations. Gearz (Jack Geary) kicked a goal late, which we didn't need, but I thought overall we closed the game out really well.

"The boys fought to the end, which was great."

Horbury paid tribute to White for his tackle in the final minutes.

"Strauch was putting metres on a few of us, so Oscar's tackle was huge,'' Horbury said.

"Oscar has been super for us every game. His fitness levels are outstanding. He runs as hard at the end of a game as he does at the start of a game.

"Lucky we had him there to close him (Strauch) down, otherwise it could have been a different story."

Golden Square coach Christian Carter was left to lament a second-straight defeat.

"The first quarter was really pleasing, particularly considering we hadn't been starting games well,'' Carter said.

"We won the clearances convincingly and probably should have taken a couple more opportunities to score.

"The second quarter was the total opposite. South got on top in the middle and got first hands on the ball.

"I think we thought it was just going to happen and we let them back in the game.

"It was a tight tussle for the rest of the game."

Carter said the Bulldogs needed to get back to an attacking mindset.

"The signs from the last two games are when we're challenged it seems a few of the guys go back into their shells and are cautious with the ball,'' Carter said.

"We're not taking the game on and switching the ball as much as we should be. We're going down the line a lot and trying to protect the ball.

"To play to our strengths we have to be courageous and move the ball quicker."

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