THE Gisborne Bulldogs headed the BFL senior ladder by two, clear games in mid-June in 2002.

The Gardiner Reserve Dogs destroyed Golden Square by 87 points in a Round 8 match which had been billed as a ‘blockbuster'.

The Origin Oval Dogs looked the goods early. They had six goals on the board to Gisborne's two in the first 20 minutes.

Then the home side booted four goals as the quarter wound down, and another 20 goals to Square's seven after the first break.

"Action Attraction" Steve Reaper booted nine Gisborne goals.

In other matches nine years back Eaglehawk belted South by 51 points and Sandhurst held Maryborough to three goals in an eight-goal victory.

The competition was handed a lease of life with Kyneton recording its first win of 2002. The Tigers downed Castlemaine by 44 points.

Kyneton received a timely boost to its player stocks with Bendigo Diggers trio Simon Elsum, Sam Young and Daniel van den Ham available for the black and gold.

Young booted four goals but skipper Wayne Eve was even better with six majors.

New Kyneton coach ‘Fabulous' Phil Carman was delighted with his first win at Kyneton. "It was a fantastic day for the club and just reward for all the work the boys have put in over the past few months," Carman told the Advertiser.

CARMAN said bringing in three quality players made a huge difference to the Tigers.

"Elsum maybe didn't do all that much, but his experience out on the ground and his overall leadership just made everyone else walk a bit taller," said the coach.

In only his second game back after recovering from a hernia operation, Eve was at his brilliant best.

Best afield was Brent Dryden who chipped in with two majors to cap off a polished display.

Van den Ham was also a solid contributor for the Tigers along with Xavier Keighran and Declan Neale.

The only sour note for Kyneton came with the report of Michael "Mobbsy'' O'Brien for alleged use of abusive language.

The win handed the Tigers the Central Highlands Cup for 2002.

Steven Oliver booted three of Castlemaine's 10 goals with 2011 coach Paul Eyles bobbing up with two.

Giant ruckman Mark Oxley, now playing in the MCDFL, was the Maine's best.

The loss was a bitter blow for Castlemaine. The Magpies would have been only a game off second place had they won.
But going into Round 9 the Maine was in seventh spot on three wins-five losses and a percentage gap of more than 16 per cent behind fifth-placed South Bendigo.

GISBORNE'S running brigade swamped Square from the 21-minute mark of the first quarter

Rover Matt Fitzgerald (who was to win two Michelsen Medals during his BFL career) was best afield and evergreen Ollie Messaoudi shut down the Square's dange
rous midfielder Matt Dillon.
With Shane "Dog" Davis having the better of in-form Golden Square defender Dillon Anderson, Reaper was fed constantly by his on-ballers.

Anderson completed a bad day when he had his number taken by goal umpire Kevin Monk for allegedly striking Gisborne's Aaron Christensen.

And Gardiner Reserve devotees were delighted with their first look at Diggers' wingman Ty Elliott.

Against his old team Elliott's speed and penetrating kicking caused huge headaches for the Origin Oval Dogs.
Skipper Darren Walsh tried hard for the visitors, but found close checking opponent Matt Cannard difficult to shake off.

Paul Sharkey was the best forward on the ground in the first quarter-and-a-half, but a combination of Dave Power and limited opportunities severely limited his impact on the match.

"We are really struggling at the moment in the midfield," Walsh said.

"We showed on Saturday we could match it with Gisborne for a while, but to beat a side of that quality you have to play four quarters of footy."

Walsh added the Square "had not been putting four quarters of football together" in recent weeks.

A NINE-GOAL second quarter blitz was the highlight of Eaglehawk's convincing win over South Bendigo at Canterbury Park.

After South had led by nine points at quarter-time, the Hawks dominated the match with first-gamer Linton Jacobs booting four goals.

A six-goal haul from the Bloods' David McCormick was not sufficient for South to snatch the premiership points.
Eaglehawk built up a match-winning lead in the second term with nine goals straight to the Bloods' 1.6.

Lucas Mathews dominated proceedings across midfield for the Two Blues while the long kicking of former Geelong and Freo winger Andrew Wills was a highlight.
One goal from well outside 50m from Wills had the parochial Hawk crowd roaring.

The home side had 12 goal kickers with Ryan Pedrotti and Madden each finishing with three. Wills and Scott Langan notched two apiece.

South's best was defender Julian Lake.

SANDHURST jumped to fourth spot on the ladder handling the slippery QEO conditions much better than Maryborough.
The 2001 minor premiers posted 24 scoring shots to 11 and restricted the Magpies to just 2.5 for three quarters.
The defence held the Dragons together. Wayne Mitrovic was impassable while Kieran Nihill provided great run off half-back.

Toby Cardew booted five goals with the Sexton brothers, Matt and Ben, adding two more apiece.

It took a sensational shot from Maryborough star Jamie Bond to register the visitors' first goal. That didn't come until the start of the second term.

Bond gathered the ball deep in the scoreboard pocket at the city end and managed to snap the ball through the big sticks.

Minutes later, Cardew hauled in a sensational mark over two Borough defenders. He went back and split the tall timber with a shot from outside the 50m arc on the boundary line, Barnard Street end.

Marc Cassidy managed to boot Maryborough's second goal late in the second term to cut the margin to 20 points not long before half-time.

Rick Andrews controlled the midfield for the Dragons against his old side after half-time as he asserted himself in and under the packs.

Ben Sexton booted his second major after he roved a pack and kicked truly. The Dragons were cruising with a 40-point lead.

Maryborough finished the day with just one point kicking to the Barnard Street end. Magpie coach Anthony O'Shea made no attempt to hide his disappointment afterwards, saying there were no positives to be taken from the clash.

Hurst coach Mark Ellis was more upbeat saying he was pleased with the pressure his players had put on the opposition.

"But we need to improve our delivery into the forward line if we want to become a genuine premiership contender. We were found wanting on occasions today," he added.

Final scores:

Gisborne 26.14 (170)
Golden Square 13.5 (83)

Sandhurst 10.14 (74)
Maryborough 3.8 (26)

Kyneton 16.17 (113)
Castlemaine 10.9 (69)

Eaglehawk 21.14 (140)
South Bendigo 13.11 (89)

Richard's tips for Round 8: Golden Square, Eaglehawk, Maryborough, Gisborne, Strathfieldsaye. 2011 tally: 24.

By Richard Jones