AFTER a welcome week off for the mid-season bye, it was back into this week for the Bulldogs in the critical clash/es against archrivals Tooradin.
With both clubs well entrenched in the Top 6 across all football grades, it promised to be a tantalising day of community football at the Kennel.
Pity that the weather gods were not smiling on the day!
In a clash of second versus third, with the victor taking a vice-like grip on the vital second place and double chance in the finals, the result was always going to hotly contested.
With a howling westerly wind crossing the kennel, it was going to be the side that could best adjust to the tough conditions that would come out on top.
With a bunch of senior players returning to the team after the bye - including Daniel Pearce, Travis Woodfield and Max Walton - rumours of some changes to the visitors team swirled pre-game, confirmed with a late change seeing Seagulls superstar Brent Macaffer out of the side.
In a tight contest, it was to be the Bulldogs that prevailed leading at all changes to win 7.11 (53) to 6.8 (44), but only after a last quarter 23-point lead was almost run down by a charging Seagulls outfit.
With a 10-point margin at each of the first two quarter breaks, it was the Bulldogs ability to move the ball forward with just that little bit more efficiency that saw it up at the half time break.
A late goal by key Gull forward Brad Butler helped keep the visitors in it.
The second half continued the trend, with the Bulldogs extending the lead to 4 goals early in the last and looking like they were going to run away with it.
The Seagulls upped the tempo – and the contested footy – from that point, with some passages of play resembling rugby scrums with anything up to 10 ball-ups in a row!
Through methodical pushing and probing they were able to keep the contest alive right to the end.
Midfielder Hayden (Pencil) Bruce – fresh from the recent birth of his first daughter – was the games standout, scoring a total of 4 of the 7 bulldog goals including two of the first three.
Continuing his fantastic form of late, the Seagulls couldn’t stop him, as hard and as tough as they tried. Aided and abetted by an arm-chair ride from ruckmen Daniel Bourke and Cameron Pedersen – particularly after half time – he led the charge for the Bulldogs.
In the tough conditions the Bulldogs defence was set a tough test, and it was elder stateman Damien Holmes assisted ably by returning Daniel Pearce that stood tool. Kai McKenzie kept that man Stuart Scanlon quiet (returning only one goal for the Gulls). It took the unlikely Gulls ruckman Ray Lengel to keep the visitors in the game scoring a couple of goals at key periods.
In the end, it was a great grinding win to the Bulldogs, cementing their hold on the vital second place. With some key outs still to come back, the rest of the season looks positive for the Dogs.
