WHEN the final siren sounded at the Neale Street oval one Saturday afternoon back in June, 1982 it seemed the BGCFL Division 2 match-of-the-day had ended in a draw.
Scoreboard attendants had Kennington-Strathdale and White Hills level on 101 points apiece: the Saints 14.17 (101) to the Hillies 15.11 (101).
After 100 minutes of hard, tough footy a draw seemed a fitting result, Advertiser scribe Steven Miles reported in his match summary.
But there was a final twist to the tale.
"As the players began to leave the oval it became obvious that something was wrong," he noted.
"Supporters from the two clubs began to gather around the goal umpires as they checked their score cards in the middle of the ground."
And after a short conference, Miles wrote, the goalies marched briskly to the boundary line and told the scoreboard attendants their mathematics was wrong.
The scores were adjusted to read: Kennington-Strathdale 14.19 (103) to White Hills 15.11 (101).
So the match was won by the Saints by a slender two-point margin. The goalies' intervention sparked wild celebrations around the ground, now known as the Harry Trott Oval.
Kennington supporters cheered wildly and car horns blared right around the ground's perimeter.
The win by the Saints reversed the result of the Round 1 clash when White Hills had won by the exact same narrow margin.
Miles wrote there were many final individual battles. John Stringer did well to counter the dominance of Demon ruckman Greg Murrawood while Aldridge (5 goals) and McCumber (KS, 4 majors) were dangerous forwards for the respective clubs.
"Grant Wee-Hee (the Hillies best on the day) had a great battle with Neil Phillips (Kennington) on one wing, while little separated Sait (KS) and Poole on the other.
The Saints speared home 4.6 in the final term to the Hillies' 3.2 to eventually ease home to their slender win.
And why BGCFL? Well, for two seasons after the merger of the Bendigo and Golden City leagues at the direction of the VCFL in the early Eighties the central Victorian peak organisation was known as the Bendigo Golden City Football League.
Yep. A real mouthful!
SANDHURST struggled home to a 15-point victory over Kyneton in the BGCFL Division 1 match-of-the-day.
The QEO clash was dominated by the respective backlines in the first half with just eight goals posted: four by each side.
The Maroons led by only three points – 4.10 to 4.7 – and with both teams adding five goals apiece in a hectic third term the Hurst held a narrow eight-point lead at the last change: 9.16 to 9.8.
The Tigers closed the gap to two points early in the last. When Mark Rohde made one of his few errors on the day --- caught with the ball -– John Watts goaled from the resulting free kick for the Tigers.
Minor scores for the Hurst didn't help the home side. It was left to interchange player and rover Ian Mills to nail the decisive two goals of the day.
He marked straight in front of the big sticks for his first. And then Mills snaffled a handpass from Frank Coghlan to boot what seemed to be the match-defining major.
The Tigers weren't done. Raymond Allen burst through a pack with great strength to steer through Kyneton's ninth and when Watts scooped up a rolling ball and left-footed accurately Kyneton was just 10 points down with 20 minutes of the quarter played.
Right on the final siren half-forward Phil Pickering marked within scoring range to bang home wasteful Sandhurst's 12th goal (from 32 scoring shots) and wrap up a 15-point win for the Dragons.
Gavin Exell booted five goals for the Hurst while Jimmy Flynn and David Matassoni speared home three apiece for the Tigers.
Sandhurst winger Gary Barber was voted best afield with fine play across the QEO spaces while Peter and Mark Rohde and Noel Belsar were strong in defence. Frank Coghlan was the pick of the midfielders, some of them known as ruck-rovers back in the day.
Bobby Beare and Allen were creative ruckmen for Kyneton while full-back Mark Grave and back pocket Rob McLellan were the pick of the Tiger defenders.
AT DOWER Park, John Forbes reported flag favourites Eaglehawk had to work hard to down cellar dweller Kangaroo Flat in a real shoot-out.
Forty-five goals were scored with Hawk spearhead Daryl Gilmore and centreman Denis Higgins landing six each. Phil Byrne and the "Golden Greek" Fotius Delikatzis hammered home four apiece.
For the Roos Robbie Griffith booted five, but spent quite a bit of time at centre half-back.
Normal spearhead Steve McKerrow played an unaccustomed ruck-roving role, changing with captain Peter Hinck on the half-forward flank. Hinck, McKerrow and John Noulton all nailed three goals for the Flat.
Forbes reported the Hawks held a commanding 11-goal half-time led but were marginally outscored -- 12 goals to 11 -- after the break.
"Although beaten by 70 points bottom side Kangaroo Flat was far from disgraced. Their second half was really a grim revival led by skipper Peter Hinck and although Eaglehawk's class shone out, especially in the first half, the Flat fought the game right out."
GOLDEN Square recorded a huge win over Castlemaine led by Eric Pascoe's seven majors and an on-target performance by the whole Bulldog side.
From 35 scoring shots Square landed 21 goals. Eventual Michelsen medallist Greg Williams and Wayne Walsh kicked three goals apiece with Vic Alle, Don Sherman and ruckman Alan Patterson in the top three on the ground.
For the Magpies current day Sandhurst coach Brett Fitzpatrick kicked three goals while Peter Fyffe and Brett Struhs were named as their best.
Final scores, Division 1: Sandhurst 12.20 (92) def. Kyneton 11.11 (77); Golden Square 21.14 (140) def. Castlemaine 7.12 (54); Eaglehawk 27.26 (188) def. Kangaroo Flat 18.10 (118).
Division 2: Kennington-Strathdale 14.19 (103) def. White Hills 15.11 (101); North Bendigo 28.32 (200) def. Provincial 2.6 (18); YCW 24.14 (158) def. Marong 12.10 (82).
Byes: South Bendigo, Northern United.
BIG news before this 1982 round kicked off was the revelation Sandhurst key man, rover Denis "Mushie" O'Connor, would be playing for Carlton's reserves.
He'd been sought by Collingwood who were desperate for a young, speedy rover.
"But once the Pies showed interest in O'Connor the Blues swooped on him, so he had to line up with Carlton in their Twos clash with North Melbourne," I wrote in a back page Friday Addy story.
Also making news 33 years back was the selection of Peter Dean in Victoria's Teal Cup team to contest the Australian under-17 championships in Brisbane.
David Forbes, son of legendary central Victoria sports identity John, was in the Victorian training squad of 30. He didn't make the final cut and was named as an emergency.
The three-day Teal Cup carnival was set for Brisbane with Victoria going into the carnival as the Cup holders.
Dean later had a stellar career with Carlton and was in the Blues premiership team which downed Geelong in the 1995 AFL grand final.
And the Sun Kick trials for 1982 were set for decision at the QEO, Donald, Shepparton and Swan Hill during June, 1982.
The annual event was held to unearth the best schoolboy long kick in the state. Only full-time schoolboys were eligible to enter.
Material sourced at Goldfields Library research section, Hargreaves Street, Bendigo.
Richard's tips for Round 9: Square by 33 (vs. Maine), Hurst by 19 (vs. E'hawk at QEO), Kyneton by 59 (vs. M'borough), Kang. Flat by 30 (vs. Gisborne at Gardiner Reserve) and Storm by 67 (vs. South, holiday Monday at Flight Centre Park).
2015 season total to date: 32.
By Richard Jones