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The Graveyard Dogs booted 25 goals while restricting cellar dweller Flat to just eight.

But Gisborne faced a night of drama at the Tribunal. Star centre half-forward Damian Houlihan -- who is with North Bendigo in 2010 --- was booked for allegedly striking Roo defender Noel Shelton.

In other late July matches seven seasons ago, Golden Square accounted for South Bendigo with a solid 27-point victory while Eaglehawk downed Castlemaine by 52 points at Canterbury Par.

In a nine-club structure, only three matches were played in the split round that day in 2003. Second-placed Maryborough had beaten Sandhurst (7th) in the only match of the split round's first weekend. Kyneton had the bye.

The ladder had Gisborne on top (11 wins, 1 loss) from Maryborough (8-4), Eaglehawk (6-5), Kyneton (6-5) and Golden Square (6-6).
The bottom four was made up of South Bendigo (6-6), Sandhurst (5-7), Castlemaine (4-8) and the Flat (0-11).

GOLDEN Square proved it couldn't be discounted from finals calculations with its all-the-way win over South at the QEO.
A loss would have effectively ended the Bulldogs' season, and they played accordingly by outscoring the Bloods in every quarter.
The win catapulted the Square into fifth spot with a percentage advantage of 8.59 % over sixth-positioned South.

After a tight opening half the Bulldogs broke the game open in the third term, jumping out to a six-goal break midway through the quarter.
With their midfield proving plenty of dash through the likes of Jarrod Quinn, Marty O'Reilly and Bendigo Bombers duo Adam Bovalino and Aaron Hawkins, the Dogs began to stretch the Bloods.

Michelsen Medal favourite Ben Doherty began to get on top at centre half-forward and teamed well with full-forward Paul Sharkey and mid-season recruit Gary Learmonth.
Between them this trio landed 10 goals.

But just when South appeared dead and buried, the fightback began.
Luke Milroy, Andy Grant and Neville Clark began to find the ball through midfield and provided gun full-forward David McCormick with some much-needed opportunities.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, the gap closed to 16 points before a couple of late goals to the Square closed the game out.

EAGLEHAWK retained third position on the BFL senior ladder with a resounding 52-point victory over the dangerous Castlemaine.
The Hawks who hadn't won a game since beating Kyneton almost two months earlier were never really threatened by the Magpies despite suffering momentary lapses in concentration.

The home team started the match in blistering fashion kicking three of the opening four goals to set up a 20-point break 15 minutes in.
However, just as the Hawks appeared likely to run away with the game they stopped and allowed Castlemaine to go into the quarter-time break only five points down.

And the trend continued in the second stanza.
Again the Hawks broke away to a five-goal lead midway through play. But again they lost concentration as the Magpies were allowed to crawl their way back.

The half-time score saw Eaglehawk 11.4 (70) leading the Maine 8.5 (53).
And yet despite the relatively close scoreline the Hawks appeared to be in control of general play. The midfield was led well by Shannon Milward, Kieran O'Shannessy and Damien Lock.

Down back Ryan Pedrotti and Danny O'Shannessy provided plenty of rebound.
In the front half Sean Smith continued his stellar season with five first-half goals and Adam Rout (who finished with four goals) also looked dangerous.

For Castlemaine, Lachlan Brown found plenty of the football early through the midfield and Matt Peake was also prominent.
Justin Maddern (three goals for the day) provided a strong target up forward and did enough to keep the visitors in the game.
The second half proved to be the difference between the clubs. The Hawks moved into overdrive as they began to dominate all over the ground.

The home side kicked 11 goals to six after the main break to close out the match.
Bendigo Bombers' vice-captain and Advertiser sports reporter Mark Brown booted eight goals in his first appearance in the two-blue guernsey. Smith bagged six.

The win gave the Hawks a little bit of breathing space in the Top Five but the loss dented Castlemaine's finals hopes. It almost certainly ended any hopes of a Magpie finals campaign in 2003.

In the under-18s, Eaglehawk's Phil Lobb booted 11 of the Two Blues' 17 goals for the match.

GISBORNE efficiently accounted for the struggling Kangaroo Flat with a huge win.
The flag favourites did what was necessary as they ensured the horror season for the Roos continued.
Kangaroo Flat had yet to win a game as 2003 wound down and Advertiser writers reckoned they were unlikely to do so before the end of the home-and-away season.

Gisborne dominated across every line.

Burly full-forward Steven Reaper kicked five goals while Houlihan contributed four. Current Dogs' coach Ty Elliott and Rod Sharp were creative through the midfield and the Gisborne defence was as miserly as usual.

The only disappointment for Gisborne on an otherwise solid day was the report of Houlihan. He was booked during the third quarter for the strike on Shelton.

For Kangaroo Flat beanpole ruckman Peter Moloney toiled hard constantly giving his on-ballers first use of the ball from the stoppages.
Cameron Milward and Steve Humphrey ran strongly, while Elliott Bowen (now with Rochester in the GVFL) did a solid job blanketing Houlihan.

[Gisborne eventually won the 2003 flag, defeating Eaglehawk 18.12 (120) to 11.7 (73). And Ben Doherty did not win the Michelsen Medal --- that honour went to Matthew Fitzgerald of Gisborne.]

Richard's tips for split round 14: Golden Square, Sandhurst, South Bendigo (Week 1). And then Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat (Week 2). Season total for 2010: 55.

By Richard Jones