SOUTH Bendigo regained top spot on the BFL senior ladder two decades back following a comfortable win over Eaglehawk at Canterbury Park.
It was early June in 1993 and the Bloods were helped by Castlemaine's incredible 124-point mauling of the previously unbeaten ladder leader Maryborough at the Camp Reserve.
The Maryborough Magpies were able to manage just five goals for the day. They were out of the contest, completely, by midway through the second term.
By contrast South needed to unleash a scoring blitz after the long break to crush the Hawks.
Travis St Clair bagged seven goals for South with coach Peter Curran and David Ivey chipping in with three majors each.
Reliable defender Craig "Ossie" Osborne was named best afield.
In the Borough's miserable tally of nine goals, Daryl Gilmore and Steve McDougall provided two each.
In the round's surprise result Golden Square registered just its third win of the season by downing final five contender North Bendigo by one, straight kick at Wade Street.
Trailing by six points at the last change (11.10 to 12.10), the Wade Street Dogs booted 7.5 in a thrilling last term to North's 5.5 to prevail by one goal.
Peter 'Snyder' Hunter booted four goals for the Square and Terence Tuohey three. Tuohey was adjudged best afield while for North David Keogh and Andrew Price rammed home four goals each.
Dean Lupson was named North Bendigo's best.
North sprang a surprise before the teams took the field by including forward Jamie Hartley in place of Paul Ryan. The Atkins Street Dogs also brought in former Eaglehawk key forward Rodney Ross.
Square had to replace Ricky Jenkyn who hadn't come up after injury. Sean Walsh was their late replacement.
Kangaroo Flat and Sandhurst posted regulation wins over Northern United and Kyneton respectively. But the Dragons suffered a momentary scare in the last term when the Tigers drew within four goals.
In the end it was the Hurst's greater speed and more accurate field kicking which won the day.
And following North's surprise loss to the Square at Wade Street, Kyneton clung to fifth spot by only half-a-game from Eaglehawk: 22 premiership points to 20.
The Tigers had snared four points for the bye whereas the Hawks hadn't yet had their bye. And Kyneton had played out a draw with North Bendigo earlier in the season.
SANDHURST'S free-ranging wingman Scott Elliott was adjudged best afield in the QEO clash. Danny Ellis (4) and Steve Robinson (3) hammered home seven of the Dragons' 22 majors.
Coghill (6) and Heath (5) bagged the lion's share of Kyneton's 15 goals.
Scott Tully had a big day against United, ramming home eight goals and taking the best on ground honours. Also among the goals for the Flat were David Lancaster (6) and Dean Armstrong (4).
O'Brien landed four for United.
Armstrong was to appear as a witness in a Tribunal hearing later that week in June, 1993. Northern United 's Dean Stewart had been booked for allegedly striking Armstrong.
Tully was slated to appear as well. The Swallows' Nathan Cail went into the book for allegedly striking the Flat sharpshooter.
At the Camp Reserve, Derrick Filo landed a lazy eight goals for the Maine. In a brilliant day for goalkickers, Jamie Allen booted six and Michael Blake five. Key forward Stewie Annand managed just two, but for his unrelenting work rate he was named best on ground.
Maryborough was hard hit before the game against Castlemaine even started. Key running players Brendan Tranter, the Hawk brothers and Butler were out of the selected side.
Coach Brent Dyer had to re-shuffle his side and bring in two first gamers.
But the Maine wasn't at full strength, either. Dean Henderson, Jamie Culpitt, 2013 coach Brett Fitzpatrick and Paul Starbuck were all sidelined.
The Camp Reserve Pies covered their losses far more adequately than the visiting Magpies.
IN AN 11-club competition, it was a busy period for the BFL although the Kennington Saints and Northern United were struggling.
Kennington provided the sensation of the '93 season later on. In Round 14 the Saints walked off the field at Maryborough half-way through the third term.
Citing poor or no protection from the umpires for their players when they were in possession of the ball, the Saints were adamant they had the best interest of their footballers at heart.
They'd been pleaded with outside the umpires' rooms at half-time, but to no avail Saints' officials told the Advertiser on Sunday night.
Severe penalties were handed down to the Kennington hierarchy at later BFL tribunal/judicial hearings, although these were later revoked.
And it was only a matter of weeks before the Saints went into recess, never to be seen again, a few months later.
They weren't there when footy got underway for the 1994 season.
More on these matters in a later 2013 edition of Archives.
Final scores: Sandhurst 22.14 (146) def. Kyneton 15.12 (102)
Kangaroo Flat 30.12 (192) def. Northern Utd. 14.12 (96)
South Bendigo 21.19 (145) def. Eaglehawk 9.9 (63)
Castlemaine 24.16 (160) def. Maryborough 5.6 (36)
Golden Square 18.15 (123) def. North Bendigo 17.15 (117).
Bye: Kenington.
Ladder: South Bendigo 8 wins-1 loss (209.84%), Maryborough 8-1 (127.07%), Castlemaine 7-2 (205.95%), Sandhurst 7-2 (150.57%), Kyneton 4-4-and 1 draw.
Outside the Five: Eaglehawk 5-5, North Bendigo 3-5-and 1 draw, Golden Square 3-6, Kangaroo Flat 3-6, Northern United 1-8 and Kennington 0-9.
THE upsets just kept on rolling along 20 years ago.
The Loddon Valley senior side, led by 1992 Bears Lagoon-Serpentine premiership coach Scott Niemann, scored a convincing 26-point victory over the Heathcote league in a Sunday QEO clash.
While the skies were grey all afternoon, the rain held off. A huge crowd of district sports enthusiasts watched a spectacular day of footy and netball.
The HDFL started strongly, winning the under-17 inter-league footy fixture. But the LVFL under-21 side balanced the ledger, setting up an exciting senior battle between the two, fierce district rivals.
Final scores: LVFL 11.18 (84) def. HDFL 7.16 (58). Gate: $5000.
Loddon Valley bounced out of the blocks and led four goals to one at the first change.
Vice-captain Bert McIvor patrolled the backline well for the Navy Blues and with Brett Gloury presenting a strong target at centre half-forward and Greg Barass elusive in front of the sticks, Heathcote was under pressure.
Brett Hickman at half-back and Andrew McTaggart on the last line of defence were the pick of the HDFL backmen.
Niemann continued his strong, running game as the game unfolded. Wayne Naughton, along with Gloury, marked strongly in the front half and was on target with his kicking for goal.
The Heathcote forwards sprayed their shots all day and despite working the interchange bench overtime to bring fresh players into the match they never really challenged the Loddon Valley.
Not that they've clashed lately, but the general feeling among central Victorian footy followers these days is that the Heathcote league provides a higher standard of footy than the Loddon Valley.
Perhaps it could be put to the test, but that would seem to be only a possibility if the two leagues ended up alongside each other in the VCFL rankings system.
Richard's tips for Rd. 8: Gisborne by 29, South Bendigo by 48, Golden Square by 21 and Strath Storm by 10.
Season total: 21.
By Richard Jones