Bundoora have won their third consecutive Division 1 Reserves premiership, comfortably defeating Heidelberg by 52 points at Preston City Oval.
Defence set the tone for a low-scoring affair that quickly flipped to a dominant display of composure, skill and teamwork from the Bulls that they would ride towards a 10.13 (73) to 3.3 (21) victory.
Nathan Howard was awarded the best on ground medal for the match with a stellar performance, while Jake Hobbs and Zane Barker displayed excellent pace in the midfield, providing entries up forward that kept the scoreboard ticking.
The Tigers saw standouts in Michael Finn, Mackenzie Hogg and Jordan Sutterby who were all named among the bests for the team, while Kane Veliou provided much needed defensive effort towards a backline that became overwhelmed.
While the Bulls looked strong throughout the opening term, their efforts would only result in three behinds, which would be the ultimate quarter time lead.
The Tigers were unable to register a score due to being second to the ball in countless contests, allowing the ball to be kept at the Bundoora end for most of the term.
More of the same from the Bulls came about in the second term. They would eventually find their way to the goal column through a snap around the body from James Sekulovski.
Sekulovski would continue to impress, quickly scoring another major that would be immediately followed by Travis Keating who would run-in for one of his own, extending the margin to 25 points heading into the main break.
Still yet to register a score by half time, Heidelberg started to fight back in the third term. Stephen Bakos converted his set shot in attempt to swing the momentum to their advantage.
Bundoora were able to bounce back quickly by looking towards Sekulovski again, who snapped at goal to mark his third major of the match and re-establish the Bulls’ lead.
But the Tigers continued to get back in the game, with Bakos kicking his second of the term before a major from Joel Kleiman reduced the deficit to just two goals.
Again, the Bulls would have the final say of the quarter, with Jacob Maynes’ set shot goal bringing the advantage to 21 points at three quarter time.
In the last term, Bundoora looked back to their first half best, with Zane Barker kicking the important first major of the quarter.
The Tigers continued to struggle against the fast-moving attack that the Bulls used to propel entries up the middle and into the forward 50.
Liam Kolar and Matthew Morrison would add to the scoring column with a major each, while Maynes registered his second goal of the game to extend the lead to an unreachable seven goals.
The final seconds of the game were capped off with a set shot goal from Bundoora captain Jayden Petruccelle to assure his side of the premiership.
