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Monday May 16, 2016 BENDIGO ADVERTISER

27

HEATHCOTE DISTRICT FOOTBALL-NETBALL LEAGUE SPORT

Bulldogs brutal win

North
thumps
Demons
by 183
ROUND 7
BY LUKE WEST

EIGNING premier
North Bendigo
surged to the top of
the Heathcote District Football League ladder
after a brutal demolition of
White Hills on Saturday.
The Bulldogs put the
Demons to the sword in a
183-point mauling at Tinta-Car Oval, winning 28.24
(192) to 1.3 (9).
Of the 352 games the
Bulldogs have played since
joining the HDFL in 1996,
only their 207-point win
against Rushworth in round
seven, 1997, has been by a
bigger margin.
The Bulldogs led by 33
points at quarter-time, 94 at
half-time and 131 at three
quarter-time, before the
final margin of 183.
The only goal the Demons
kicked for the game was by
Marcus Treble in what was
the first of the third quarter.
It was a really good
performance; the best weve
played all year and the boys
really delivered on what
wed spoken about during
the week, North Bendigo
coach Rob Bennett said.
Our midfield got first use
from Brett Strange, our tackling pressure was right-up
and weve got a settled back
six, who all did a great job.
North Bendigos win
followed a 142-point hammering of LBU the previous
week, with the Bulldogs
having lifted their percentage from 132.8 to 218.5 over
their past two games, during
which they have kicked 54
goals to five.
Star forward Brady Herdman, who is being managed
through osteitis pubis,
bagged 10 goals for the
Bulldogs, but had enough
chances to kick another
eight or nine.
The Bulldogs also had
Sam Barnes kick five and
Aarryn Craig who was
named the sides best boot
four from the midfield.
Among the Bulldogs best
players in what was his 100th
game was Ryan Alford.
Ryan is really popular
among the club and the
playing group really wanted
to put in a strong performance in his milestone
game, but he was one of the

BIG DAY OUT: North Bendigo's Brady Herdman dives for a mark in front of Jake Ward. Herdman finished with a haul of 10 goals. Pictures: LUKE WEST

ROUND 7
RESULTS
North Bendigo d White
Hills by 183
Elmore d Mount Pleasant
by 34
Colbinabbin d LBU by 97
Huntly d Heathcote by
107

ones who set the tone for us

early, Bennett said.
While the Bulldogs are
flying, the Demons have dug
themselves a deep hole, with
their record now 1-5.
The 183-point margin was
their biggest loss since they
were beaten by Mount Pleasant by 224 points in round
2, 1995, while their tally of
1.3 (9) was their lowest score
since they were also held to
1.3 (9) against Broadford in
round 15, 1995.
I dont think we have
the worst list, but were
giving some of the worst
effort in moments, quarters
or games as it was today,
Demons coach Carl Hardingham said.
We need to get fitter and
more guys on the training track.
Finals are out of the
equation at this stage, unless
we do something dramatic
as far as effort goes.
On a dismal day for the
Demons, Mitchell Curtis was
their best player.
Mount Pleasant and
Elmore both put on a goalkicking clinic at Toolleen,
but it was the Bloods who

UP AND ABOUT: North Bendigo's Luke Buttigieg

celebrates a goal with Matthew Thomas (No.24) during
the third quarter on Saturday.

prevailed by 34 points in a
crucial victory towards their
pursuit of a finals berth for
the first time since 2011.
The two teams combined
to kick 38.12, with Elmore
victorious 22.5 (137) to 16.7
(103) in the closest of what
was a one-sided round of
matches where the average
margin was 105 points.
Elmores accuracy came
on the back of conversion
having been an Achilles Heel
this season.
We were smarter with
the footy and where we were
having our shots from. Our
midfield was able to get on
top early and with a bit of
extra time and space, were
able to really think about
where they were kicking
and make it easier for the
forwards, Elmore coach
Alex Gleeson said.
Danny Brewster was a star
up forward for Elmore, boot-

ing 11 goals, while Travis

Mills chipped in with four.
The win which came
after a blistering start in
which they led 11.2 to 4.0
at quarter-time gave the
Bloods three in a row for
the first time since 2011, but
more importantly, moved
them a game clear of the
Blues in the top five.
Brewster and Cam
Milward led the best players
for the Bloods, while Mount
Pleasant was best served
by Adam Richardson and
James Armstrong. Nick Grigg
kicked five goals and Bailey
OConnor made the most
of his senior call-up for the
Blues with three goals.
Having trailed by 44
points at quarter-time, by
half-time Mount Pleasant
had trimmed the deficit back
to 13 points.
Colbinabbin won its fifth
game in a row, defeating

Lockington-Bamawm
United by 97 points.
Led by seven goals from
forward Ryan Hon, the
Grasshoppers were 17.19
(121) to 3.6 (24) victors at
Lockington.
We had a big focus on
not being flat today having
had the bye last week and
respect for the opposition,
said Colbinabbin coach Nick
Knight, who suffered a suspected strained hamstring in
the first term that will be an
inter-league blow next week.
We were patchy at times,
but you take a 16-goal win
any day of the week.
The Grasshoppers kept
the Cats goalless in the
second and third quarters.
Our back six has been
really good all year and
were fantastic again today,
Knight said.
Hon, half-back Daniel Hill
and Cameron Hall through
the midfield were the best
for the Grasshoppers.
The Cats suffered injury
blows early in the game to
ruckman Nathan Dyson
(ribs) and key midfielder
Matt Bongiovanni (concussion).
Colbinabbin was really
impressive today. They play
a good brand of team footy
and spread really well, LBU
coach Peter Gibbs said.
We had a crack early,
but our second and third
quarters were terrible.
Its the things that dont
take a lot of talent that are
letting us down we need to
make sure the effort is there

over four quarters.

Jeremy Mundie kicked
two of the Cats three goals.
The Cats two best were
Marcus Crook and the
consistent David Ismail
in defence.
Huntly has now made its
best start to a season since
1999 after beating Heathcote
by 107 points at home.
The Hawks are now 5-1 on
the back of their 22.21 (153)
to 7.4 (46) triumph.
Coming off their first
loss of the season to Leitchville-Gunbower last week,
the Hawks were quick to
assert their authority on
the contest in leading by 41
points at quarter-time.
We did a bit of
soul-searching during the
week and the guys were a lot
more accountable today and
had a crack, Hawks coach
Jamie Hogan said.
We did the hard things
well and the rest looked
after itself.
Ryan Semmel (five), Jacob
Greenwood (four), Harry
Whittle (four) and Chris
Gleeson (three) combined
to kick 16 of the Hawks
22 goals.
Semmel and Whittle were
named the two best in what
was Huntlys ninth win in a
row against Heathcote.
The Saints kicked five of
their seven goals in the first
half, before being outscored
80-12 after the main break.
Jake Condons fine season
continued for the Saints as
he was their best. Darren
Turner kicked three goals.