Bulldogs back up
It was the grand final rematch in round one between Newborough (Bulldogs) and Yallourn/Yallourn North (Bombers) at Newborough’s home ground in Mid Gippsland football on Saturday.
The game started with Newborough club president Steve Hall raising the 2016 premier’s flag, which will be pride of place at the ground during the season, and finished with a 19-point victory to the Bulldogs 14-8 (92) to 11-7 (73).
A great crowed turned out to cheer on the Bulldogs and the Bombers. The weather conditions were great, a bit cool with a bit of a breeze. An exciting game was anticipated and the teams did not disappoint.
The Bombers started off the first quarter with some great pace, getting some great clearances from the centre.
The Bulldogs struggled at times to find their rhythm and Dean McDonald, Thomas Hutton and Anthony Luck were the stand out players for the Bombers in the first quarter, which ended up with the Bombers scoring four goals to the Bulldogs’ two.
The Bombers ended leading the first quarter with a score of 26 to 14.
It looked like the Bulldogs used the first quarter as a bit of a warm up and came out a bit more hungry for the ball and making the most of their opportunities in the second quarter, scoring four goals with Joshus Hecker taking a couple of great goals.
The Bombers had their chances but missed three shots on goal. Scores ended up with the Bulldogs having a 10-point lead, 39 to 29.
Once again, the game was turned on its head during the third quarter with the Bombers getting a lot of clearances from the centre assisted by some great work from Lachlan Little.
The Bombers dominated through the front line kicking six goals, with Dean McDonald taking his fourth. At this stage of the game it looked like the Bombers might be victorious, leading at the end of this quarter by 18 points, 66 to 48.
It looked like the Bombers had the game in the bag during the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. They came out strong and with some fast pace, scoring the first goal and missing two great opportunities for a couple of points.
But then the Bulldogs made some changes to their line up¬¬ which turned the game on its head. Young Anthony Rosato moved up to the front and scored two great goals and Luke Mulqueen kicked a ripper from more than 70 yards out.
The Bulldogs just seemed to have more left in their legs and took advantage of every opportunity, scoring seven goals in the fourth quarter leading them to a 19-point victory over the Bombers.
Newborough coach Dean Caldow was delighted with his team’s performance particularly in the last quarter.
“It’s always good to get the first game under your belt so you can see where you are at with the players,” he said.
“Yallourn/Yalllourn North played a fabulous game and made us work hard for the win but I was pleased that the changes I made in the last quarter paid off and the boys came out on top.”
Yallourn/Yallourn North coach Adam Bailey felt that his boys put up a great performance.
“I’m pretty happy with how we started off, we had some great leg speed and there are a lot of positives coming out of today.
“Tom Hutton played a vital role for us and our young guys played well.
“A few opportunities going forward didn’t really go our way but we’ll work on that.”