Gisborne gave its top three hopes a boost with a hard fought win against Eaglehawk in the Bendigo Football League.
It was a battle between second and third on Saturday, and the Bulldogs were able to find a way to come away with a 9.12 (66)-6.15 (51).
Bulldogs captain Jack Reaper said it was a tough game to play in.
“It probably wasn’t a great viewing as a neutral supporter,” he said. “There was probably a four or five maybe even a six goal wind sort of going into the forward pocket of Gardiner which made it sort of a tale of two halves.
“They had two quarters to score and two quarters to defend and we were able to do a little bit better than that.”
After the Hawks led at quarter time, the Bulldogs kicked five second quarter goals to lead by 10 points at half time.
It would be the third quarter which would be the key for the Bulldogs. It was one goal apiece with the Bulldogs in front heading into the final quarter with the wind.
Reaper said it was another one of those moments where they showed some real maturity
“We were a player down, so it was 17 versus 18 and they had the wind,” he said.
“So the stress was on, but I think in that 22 minutes or 23 minutes where we were 17 players on the field we kept it to one goal.
“We played the minutes really well and set ourselves up for the last quarter.
“We probably didn’t play as well as we would have liked with the wind in the last quarter, but enough to hold out and get the four points.”
Matthew Merrett kicked four goals for the Bulldogs and was their only multiple goalkicker.
Pat McKenna kicked just one goal, but had an impact at both ends of the ground to be named the Bulldogs best.
“He rolled back in the first and third quarter and helped us in the defensive group,” Reaper said.
“We had a plus one which was either me or him.
“I thought he had a massive role playing both as a defender and a forward yesterday.”
The Bulldogs sit in second spot, now a game clear of Eaglehawk.
Sandhurst sits on top, a game clear of the Bulldogs.
The two teams still have to play each other twice in the run home.
“If we can beat the teams we expected to beat and beat them at least once, we should finish in that top three.”
The Bulldogs have a bye this weekend with interleague against the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
The final squad was set to be announced on Sunday, with Reaper to be among those part of the squad.
He captained the Bendigo team last season.
“Hopefully we’ve got a bit more mature group this year and we can beat the VAFA this time around,” he said.
“I was pretty lucky to do it in 2018 when I was only a 20-year-old and I did it last year when I was going to be one of the old fellas.
“It’s pretty cool to sort of all team up together with a bunch of boys that you compete against with the best players.”
