HDFNL: Blues keep season alive, Bulldogs out in straight sets

MOUNT Pleasant has won a second-consecutive cut-throat final, while sending North Bendigo crashing out of the Heathcote District league season in straight sets.

The Blues - again missing co-coach Ben Weightman (back) - defeated the Bulldogs by 14 points in Sunday's first semi-final at Elmore.

Mount Pleasant won 13.10 (88) to 11.8 (74) to advance to the preliminary final against White Hills next Saturday at Huntly where the winner will earn a crack at Heathcote in the grand final.

The Blues were in control of the game at three quarter-time when they led by 26 points.

However, having been held to just six goals across the first three quarters, the Bulldogs exploded early in the final term.

Inside the first eight minutes of the final term the Bulldogs slammed on four goals through Dylan Klemm (two), Billy Robertson and Lachlan Furness.

The Blues barely touched the ball during the run of four goals in a row for the Bulldogs, who had the chance to hit the front at the 10-minute mark, but a Klemm set-shot missed.

With the momentum against them the Blues had to dig deep and they responded with three goals in a row of their own to Zebb Murrell (two) and Riley McNamara to kill off the Bulldogs' challenge and advance.

"I'm very proud of the boys," Mount Pleasant co-coach Adam Baird said.

"I was always confident that if we were somewhere around the mark at three quarter-time that we'd be able to over-run them with our fitness and younger bodies.

"We had a handy lead at three quarter-time, but made it hard for ourselves in the last quarter when they got right back into it, which was disappointing."

The Blues held the ascendancy in the centre for the majority of the first three quarters, but the Bulldogs won the first four clearances of the final term to kickstart their surge.

"They rolled the dice a bit with their half-backs coming off the line and running through the contest and getting the ball forward whichever way they could and it worked for them," Baird, one of his side's best, said.

"They got that surge momentum going forward, but I always had the confidence in the boys that we would be able to over-run them in that last quarter."

The ultra-quick Mitch Rovers was electric for the Blues kicking three goals.

Two of Rovers' goals came late in the second quarter when the game was poised for someone to make their mark on it.

In what was a high-pressure finals scrap, the Bulldogs - having trailed by 16 points early in the second quarter - had worked their way to a two-point lead, 4.5 to 4.3, late in the second term.

But up bobbed best-on-ground Rovers with two goals in two minutes that gave the Blues a nine-point buffer at half-time.

"Mitch has had a fantastic year for us and that showed in the league votes the other night when he got 12 or so," Baird said.

"We're rapt with how he has gone for us."

Of the 13 goals the Blues kicked for the game, six came in time-on of quarters.

Although they had a handy 26-point advantage at three quarter-time, the Blues could have had a further grip on the contest had they not missed three set-shots in succession midway through the third term.

As well as Rovers' three goals, Zach Charles, Murrell and Caelan Smith kicked two each for the Blues, whose key injury concern out of the game is to Jack Craig (collarbone).

Sunday's win followed the Blues defeating Leitchville-Gunbower by 26 points in the elimination final the previous week.

Having finished just percentage away from top spot, North Bendigo lost both its finals after also going down to White Hills by 40 points in the qualifying final the previous week.

The Bulldogs squandered the chance early in the game to apply some scoreboard pressure to the Blues.

North Bendigo had the first three scoring shots of the game inside the opening 12 minutes, but all were behinds before the Blues kicked three goals in a row, the first off the boot of Zach Charles following a 50m penalty.

A big positive in a disappointing end to the season for the Bulldogs was the performance of young player Riley Pateow, who worked hard to provide some spark on a day where the Bulldogs outside of the 10-minute burst in the last quarter struggled to get any flow in their game.

Jordan Ford, who spent several moments on the ground early in the third quarter after a colliding with Blues' defender Will Wallace before playing on, was the Bulldogs' leading goalkicker with three, while Klemm, who had an enthralling duel with Wallace, and Cody Riddick kicked two each.

Mount Pleasant 3.2 6.3 10.8 13.10 (88)

North Bendigo 1.4 4.6 6.6 11.8 (74)

GOALS: Mount Pleasant: M.Rovers 3, Z.Murrell 2, Z.Charles 2, C.Smith 2, R.McNamara 1, T.McNamara 1, N.Edwards 1, A.Baird 1; North Bendigo: J.Ford 3, C.Riddick 2, D.Klemm 2, L.Furness 1, B.Robertson 1, H.Johnson 1, A.Craig 1

BEST: Mount Pleasant: M.Rovers, A.Baird, C.Smith, C.Down, R.McNamara, Z.Murrell; North Bendigo: R.Paetow, B.Wingrave, T.Devereaux, B.Robertson, N.Waterson, A.Craig

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