It was tale of two halves in North Heidelberg and Bundoora’s Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 Good Friday clash and it was the Bulls who finished off the job to produce a handy 20-point win.
It was a low scoring affair last time these two sides met but this meeting was the opposite, with high quality scoring and momentum shifts from both teams. But it was Bundoora’s six goal to nil third term that saw them come away with the 11.10 (76) to 14.12 (96) victory at Shelley Street Reserve.
The early stages of first quarter was hot footy, with both teams struggling to get ahold of possession. That changed when North Heidelberg struck first, with a goal from Kieren Jaksic five minutes in.
It was after Jaksic’s goal, that the Bulldogs controlled the flow of the game, with a kick/mark style proving difficult for Bundoora to get the ball back, and when they did, the Bulldogs applied some incredible tackling pressure.
North Heidelberg managed to kick two more goals in the quarter, courtesy of Jared Crosbie and Billy Hogan, and in turn kept the ball inside their own half, locked down the Bulls and kept them goalless for the quarter.
The second term told a different story as despite starting sloppy and missing easy handballs and kicks, the Bulls fought their way back into the game.
The visitors put through the first two goals of the quarter, Jackson Bowne kicked a particularly impressive goal, proving too quick for the Bulldogs defenders, to kick a nice dribble goal at the nine-minute mark.
Particularly impressive in the term was Bulls full forward, John Jorgensen, kicking two in the quarter, to slowly get Bundoora back into the game.
North Heidelberg ruck Anthony Daw had an impressive match and particularly during the second term his tap work was superb, allowing the Bulldogs midfielders could get easy clearances.
Throughout the rest of the quarter, both teams, albeit slightly wasteful, had multiple inside 50s. It was until the latter end of the half, where North Heidelberg managed to score three goals in quick succession, courtesy of the returning Brandon Bailey, a 55-metre bomb from Jack Mapleson, and a soccer style goal from Crosbie, giving the Bulldogs a 21-point lead at the main break.
After half time however, the Bulls took over with a huge 37-point turnaround to take a 15-point lead at three quarter time, all while keeping the home side goalless.
Big name recruit David Zaharakis led the way for Bundoora in the term when the former Essendon best and fairest managed to kick two incredible majors, one being a 50-metre bomb from the toughest of angles while the other, a miracle goal from the pocket.
Fatigue began to creep into both sides at the beginning of the last term and after the Bulls kicked the first major of the quarter, North Heidelberg were on the backfoot and trailing by 21 points.
But as time started to wind down and the desperation for goals settled in, the Bulldogs ramped up the pace, starting to swiftly moving the ball through the middle, and kicked two quick goals in succession.
Sensing the shift of momentum, Bundoora tried to slow the game down and 18 minutes in to the term, Jorgensen had the opportunity to ice the game, and to kick his fourth. It went wide, and on the rebound, the Bulldogs’ Billy Hogan nailed the shot on goal and the margin was just eight points.
Despite North Heidelberg getting on top, Bundoora responded almost immediately and managed to kick another goal just a minute after Hogan’s thanks to Nathan Thomas who slotted home his third for the game.
With just moments remaining, the Bulldogs grew frustrated and any doubts about the result quickly waivered when they gave away a costly 50 metre penalty, which saw defender Scott Dowell ice the set shot and the game for the Bulls.
