RED-HOT favourites Gisborne withstood a spirited last quarter challenge from Golden Square to win the 2002 premiership by 27 points.

The senior triumph capped off a great September afternoon a decade ago for the Gardiner Reserve Dogs as the club won all three BFL footy grades.

A footy trifecta for Gisborne.

The feat had last been achieved by South Bendigo in 1993 when former Essendon and Collingwood star Peter Bradbury was the Bloods' senior coach.

The Mick McGuane coached Bulldogs went into the 2002 play-off as red-hot favourites and withstood a spirited challenge from the Square to win by 27 points.
The Gardiner Reserve Dogs' pacy midfielders, tight-knit defence and a forward structure led by Steven "Bundy" Reaper and Aaron James was too strong.
One line by McGuane at the three-quarter time huddle summed up Gisborne's season and their approach to the Big Dance.
"There's only one place where success comes before work ---- in the dictionary," thundered McGuane.
Although there were Gizzy jitters as Golden Square surged to within 14 points at the halfway mark of the final stanza, the Graveyard Dogs would not be denied their first senior BFL premiership.
Gisborne had joined the BFL only in 2000, the Sydney Olympics year.

FIVE unanswered opening quarter goals placed Gisborne in control of the grand final.
The Square was first to split the big sticks through inspirational skipper Darren Walsh, but with midfielder Matt Fitzgerald breaking clear at centre bounces Gisborne raced to a 36-10 lead.
When big spearhead Steve Reaper marked and goaled early in the second it looked "how far Gisborne".
Majors to Square's Shaun Fletcher and Jarrod Loring cut the margin to 15 points before Gisborne struck back with four goals in six minutes.
Hard nut Ollie Messaoudi, Matt Cannard, Aaron James and Shane "Dogger" Davis all capitalised on the work of Fitzgerald, Mark O'Sullivan and Stewie Hamilton.
Down by 39 points the Square Dogs kept working hard in the contested ball stakes. Goals to Loring, Andy Grant and Fletcher lifted spirits by the long break.
Fired up by coach Brian Walsh, Golden Square matched Gisborne's intensity in the third term.
Still, their reward was just one goal.
Reaper's third goal summed up the day as Grant's diving tackle forced a turnover, but the kick to Square's half-forward line was cut off by Eddie Barake.
The Gisborne enforcer kicked long to Reaper and the resulting six-pointer meant Gisborne shot out to a 27-point advantage.
Reaper's second effort set up a Davis kick to the goal square. Fitzgerald took the mark and goaled.
Again the Square cut the deficit, this time in the last term. Anderson, Walsh and C.J. Malone were all on target as the Wade Street Dogs surged.
Gisborne came back with Fitzgerald stealing the ball at half-forward and passing accurately to Reaper.
Although Reaper nailed Gizzy's first goal of the quarter, it marked the start of ‘celebration time' for the Gisborne fans.

Gisborne 5.8 10.9 13.11 16.14 (110)
Golden Square 2.4 7.6 8.9 12.11 (83)
GOALS --- Gisborne: Steven Reaper 5, Aaron James 3, Matthew Fitzgerald 2, Shane Davis, Marcus Barham, Ollie Messaoudi, Matthew Cannard, Hayden Langbourne, Michael Dillon. Golden Square: Darren Walsh 3, Shaun Fletcher 3, Jarrod Loring 2, Chris Malone, Mark Billings, Andrew Grant, Dillon Anderson.
BEST - Gisborne: Mark O'Sullivan, Matthew Fitzgerald, Stewart Hamilton, Steven Reaper, Rodney Sharp, Jason Allen, Ollie Messaoudi. Golden Square: Brent Corcoran, Paul Sharkey, Daryl Harrison, Dillon Anderson, Darren Walsh.

Nalder Medal for best afield: Mark O'Sullivan (Gisborne)
VCFL Work Safe Medal: Matthew Fitzgerald (Gisborne).

SNIPPETS from the grand final day and following few days of 10 years ago: Sandhurst def. Maryborough in the A grade netty grand final, 46-40.
Maryborough's Alisha Thomas was awarded the best-on-court medal from the BFNL's donor of the A grade fairest and best, Betty Thompson.
Harcourt, coached by Nick Churchill, won the 2002 MCDFL grand final with a 45-point trouncing of pre-game favourites Talbot.
The Lions' forwards belted the Hawks' defence with Chris Stone (5 goals), Justin Maddern (4) and Sean Smith (4) contributing 13 of Harcourt's 19 majors.
Final scores: Harcourt 19.16 (130) def. Talbot 12.13 (85). Daniel Smith of Harcourt took out the VCFL medal. John Rayner was Talbot's best.
Peter Tyack was re-appointed South Bendigo F.C. senior coach for 2003, his second in charge of the Bloods.
South had lost to Golden Square in the 2002 preliminary final.
And Eaglehawk announced that Derrick Filo had been appointed as senior coach for 2003, after three years in charge at Kangaroo Flat.
The Two Blues were planning to hold a "meet the coach" night for Filo to get to know the people at Eaglehawk.

IN AN exclusive interview with the Advertiser's Mark Brown (published on the Monday) BFL chairman Jock Clark backed the in-principle merger between the embattled VFL side, the Bendigo Diggers, and AFL heavyweight Essendon.
Mr. Clark said his board supported the establishment of the Bendigo Bombers and would even be prepared to alter the BFL playing fixture to ensure the alignment proceeded.
"Contrary to what most people think, we are keen to see Bendigo retain a presence in the VFL," Mr. Clark said.
"We see the big picture and if we have to look at maybe re-scheduling a couple of games at the QEO to a Sunday, then we're open to that."
The BFL chief added should the City of Greater Bendigo fast-track the installation of improved lighting at the QEO, conflicts in future programming between the BFL and the Bendigo Bombers wouldn't be an issue.
"I could see BFL games, for argument's sake, being played on a Wednesday, Thursday or a Friday night. Saturday nights and double-headers also become real options," he added.
Mr. Clark said it wasn't just a case of stating that South Bendigo or Sandhurst games wouldn't be moved off the QEO.
"We'd say: let's sit down and have a yarn about it (the situation)," he concluded.

From the Bendigo Advertisers of Friday, September 20th, Saturday, September 21st and Monday, September 23rd, 2002.
With thanks to Advertiser writers Nathan Dole and Mark Brown.

TO ROUND out my 2012 series looking back at recent decades ending in a "2", here are the respective grand final results down the seasons:
60 years ago, 1952: Castlemaine 15.9 (99) def. Sandhurst 9.16 (70).
50 years ago, 1962: Rochester 9.17 (71) def. Golden Square 7.20 (62).
40 years ago, 1972: Golden Square 14.12 (96) def. South Bendigo 11.9 (75)
30 years ago, 1982: Eaglehawk 18.19 (127) def. Golden Square 6.12 (48).
20 years ago, 1992: Castlemaine 14.13 (97) def. G. Square 14.8 (92).
And 5 years ago (OK, so there's no "2" at the end, here), 2007: Eaglehawk 12.12 (84) def. Gisborne 12.10 (82).

Grand final selection: Golden Square by 23 points over Gisborne.
Nalder Medal tip: Travis Baird (GS).
Tipping tally for 2012 including, prelim. final: 74.

By Richard Jones

GOLDEN Square's outstanding full-forward Grant Weeks is poised to etch his name into Bendigo Football League history. Needing four goals in Saturday's senior grand final against Gisborne to pass a goalkicking record which has stood since the Great Depression, Weeks has the footy world on the edge of their seats.

In the 1933 season Eaglehawk's gun spearhead Frank Crapper booted 163 goals: 154 in the regular season and nine in that season's finals.

Weeks needs four on Saturday afternoon to pass Crapper's haul. He has booted 160 goals this year, with 148 in the 18 home and away rounds and 12 in the finals series to date.
He was held by Sandhurst to just four goals in the qualifying final, but bounced back with eight (8.7 in fact) against ladder-leading club Gisborne in the second semi.

The 24-year-old has booted 447 goals in just 58 games for the Square and played in two premierships.
Weeks has twice been named as an All-Australian after dominating displays at the 2010 and 2012 Australian Country Football Championships series.
And he's passed the ‘ton' comfortably for the Bulldogs in both his flag-winning seasons at MyJet Oval, as well as in 2012.
I remember a winter day in 2010 when Square was playing Castlemaine at the Camp Reserve, now known as countrycars.com.au Oval.
The full-forward was on 94 goals needing just six, obviously, to get to 100 majors for the year.
Weeks nonchalantly snagged the six he needed well before three-quarter time.
A bevy of Golden Square supporters ran onto the ground to congratulate him.
But Weeka wasn't finished! He slotted another eight sausage rolls for good measure, to finish the day with 14 and a running tally of 108 with plenty more games to go.
It was Round 12, played at a freezing Camp Reserve on July 3rd, 2010.

THE first time that season I saw the big spearhead slip into the double figures was at Tannery Lane in June. He nailed 12 snag rolls that day against new club Strathfieldsaye. It was Round 10.
He finished 2010 with 145 majors in the home and away rounds, to top the overall VCFL goalkicking table for the season.
Then he added another 12 in the finals series.
That gave him 157 majors all up.
He backed up last year with 130 majors as Square won its third flag in a row, the second premiership medallion to go with his two Ron Best medals as leading goalkicker for Grant Weeks.
Last Monday night he accepted his third, straight Ron Best Medal for the 148 goals he'd hammered through in the home and away games.

NOT only is the gun full-forward very strong with his overhead marking, he's great in getting himself into the correct position for a mark.
And Weeks' ability to win the ball at ground level is better than other great modern-day BFL full-forwards Steven Oliver (1021 goals, Castlemaine) and Steven Reaper (810, Kyneton, Gisborne).
Perhaps only Ron Best, who snared 1624 BFL goals with Sandhurst, Golden Square and Northern United and topped the century 12 times, stands with Weeks in his ability to trap the ball once it had hit the deck.
And then spin around and nail a major.
Best and Oliver came lose to passing Crapper's record, but both fell short.
Now it's a farmer from Colbinabbin who is poised to etch his name into the fabric of history in one of country Victoria's greatest leagues.

Weeks' tallies in the past four years:
2009: 124 for Colbinabbin in the Heathcote District Football League
2010: 157 for Golden Square
2011: 130 for Golden Square
2012: 160 for Golden Square, with the grand final total to be added on Saturday night.

By Richard Jones

KANGAROO Flat midfielder Damien Saunders won the 1990 Michelsen Medal on 18 votes, two clear of Castlemaine's Derrick Filo and Square's Dean Strauch.

Saunders polled in seven games, garnering four three votes and three twos for his total of 18.

Strauch and Filo polled in eight and seven matches, respectively.

The 26-year-old Roo had to wait anxiously as the votes were called at the Strathdale Community Hall for the final two rounds.
In rounds 17 and 18 Strauch was awarded three votes for his performances against Kennington and then Eaglehawk, but finished the call on 16 with Filo --- and adrift by a couple from Saunders' tally.
Twenty-two years back, Kangaroo Flat had won its first finals match since the BFL had been reformed for the start of the 1983 season.
The Roos had saluted in the elimination final with a big win over Castlemaine: 18.13 (121) to the Maine's 9.12 (66).
But the Green and Whites bowed out of the 1990 finals series with a loss to Golden Square in the first semi: 12.12 (84) to the Square's 14.19 (103).
That loss was incurred on the same weekend as the historic AFL finals draw between West Coast and Collingwood. The two AFL clubs could not be split, finishing on 13.12 (90) apiece.

BUT BACK to the 1990 count.
There was much anticipation leading up to the vote count.
As South and Square were preparing for the 1990 grand final, many players were touted as realistic chances of taking home the BFL's top individual award.
Saunders' teammates Robert Herbert, the ‘general' of the Roo backline, and ruckman Graeme Willox were mentioned in several media outlets.
So, too, were followers Alan Paterson (GS) and Peter Crone (Eaglehawk), on-ballers Strauch and Kyneton's Shane Muir, Northern United goalsneak Shawn McCormick, South Bendigo centre half-back Stephen Dean and his teammates Tony Gundry and Mark Keck.
Eaglehawk's prolific ball-winning half-back Darren Thompson was another given a strong chance.

McCormick had won the 1990 senior goalkicking award with 79 majors. That placed him 19 clear of Sean Smith (Cm) and Russell Parkes (GS) who both finished with 60.
Of course exactly a year earlier, Saunders had finished third in the 1989 medal voting behind winner Brendan Hartney (Sandhurst) and runner-up Muir (Kyneton), so he was also fancied.

BFL CHAIRMAN Bill Bonney called the votes round-by-round as per the AFL example.
Club coaches or senior players manned the Strathdale Hall boards where little numbers were attached to nails on each board.
There was much merriment around the hall as the "numbers men'' tried valiantly to get their numbers to stay affixed to their club boards.
And of course all this was long before the 21st century sophistication of computerisation and the provision of big screens all around the Michelsen Medal venue.
At the halfway mark Sandhurst rover Mark Templeton was a surprise joint leader with South's on-baller David Griffin.
They had both polled eight votes.
A big group of players on seven were next in line.
This bunch included Filo, South coach Peter Bradbury, Flat's Tony Benham, Two Blues' follower Crone and Northern United forward Matt Allan (who had left for the Ovens and Murray league during July).
But by the end of the 15th round Saunders had surged to the lead on 13.
Filo and Griffin had improved to 10 each with the call of the final three rounds set to provide the final drama of the evening.

SAUNDERS polled the best afield three-vote in round 16 against Golden Square to progress to 16.
But Strauch was awarded the two-vote in the same game which the Bulldogs won by a mere two points.
Filo garnered three for his effort in the Castlemaine-Eaglehawk fixture while Muir snared the three in the Kyneton-Sandhurst match.
That was to be Muir's final vote in the 1990 Michelsen Medal count.
In Round 17, Willox snatched the three votes in the Flat-Kyneton game at Dower Park. Saunders had to settle for two votes.
In the Castlemaine-United clash Filo was awarded the three-votes to move to 16 - still two adrift of Saunders' 18, but with the Round 18 cards yet to be called.
Among the leading contenders, only Strauch polled in the concluding round of the season.
Filo didn't get any in the Castlemaine-South fixture so was left on 16 votes with Strauch --- leaving Saunders the clear winner by two.
However Filo did take out the $1000 3CCC-FM coaches award while Strauch finished on top in the XXXX club voting with 47: 31 club votes tallied to his 16 in the Michelsen.
Filo was second in the XXXX award on 45 (29, added to his medal 16 votes) with Tigers' centre half-back Bobby Beare third with 39 (32, plus seven medal votes).
South Bendigo won the Champion Club award as well as the three top-of-the-ladder Westpac footy trophies.
The 3CCC-FM $1000 umpires' award went to Alan "Boofa" Smith from (current Hall of Famer) Ron Threlfall and Billy Makeham.
The Bart N Print Most Improved Umpire award was taken out by Andrew Jones.

ACCEPTING his award Saunders described his ability to handball quickly and accurately and the way he was able to create space for teammates as his greatest attributes.
"That's what I try to do. Set up play and be constructive," he told me straight after his win.
Quietly spoken Saunders let Kangaroo Flat club president Frank Ward do most of the talking.
Ward recalled how the club had found out about the Michelsen Medal winner.
"He'd bought a block of land out at Marong and former Flat player Mark Eastman put us onto him," he recalled.
"I actually first interviewed Damien on-site as he was concreting. It was a 40-degree summer day. I'll never forget it," said Ward.

FINAL vote tallies of leading players:
Saunders (KF):18
Strauch (GS), Filo (Cm): 16
Willox (KF): 12
Garry Mountjoy (NU), Muir (Kyn): 11
Griffin (SB), Simon McLean (Sh), Mark Tunzi (Kyn), Crone (Eh), Thompson (Eh): 10

Richard's 2012 Michel Medal tip: Grant Weeks (GS) who booted 148 home-and-away round goals. From Gisborne's Tom Waters.
Dark horses: Eaglehawk's Brady Green, Storm's Lachlan Sharp.

Preliminary final tip: Strath Storm by 15 points over Gisborne.
2012 running total: 73.

By Richard Jones

NEVILLE Strauch was one of those rare people in football who was able to make the transition from club footy to the bigger arena of football development.

In Neville's early years he showed great promise culminating in his award as the Bendigo Football League's under-18s fairest and best award in the mid-1950s.

He made his senior debut in 1957.

With his slender build and height --- he was six foot 1 ins. (185 cm) ---- Neville possessed a modern day footballer's physique.
His play, particularly in defence, for Golden Square soon made the VFL clubs sit up and take notice.
Geelong secured his signature and the young Bulldog went down to Kardinia Park to try his luck in the big league.
Unfortunately he broke his collarbone and was forced to return to Bendigo to recover. Neville eventually reconciled himself to playing footy with his beloved Bulldogs in the BFL.
In many ways Strauchy was well ahead of his time with the way he played. In the era when football was a more static game, Strauch was an attacking runner out of defence.
His performances at centre half-back re-defined the role of a key position defender and in many ways Strauch's style was a forerunner of the way footy is played now, in the 21st century.
Neville was also ahead of his time with his ability to use both sides of his body with equal proficiency.
This before-his-time skill level enabled Strauch to wriggle his way out of trouble on countless occasions.
Combining his great skills with a cool head, Neville always appeared to have plenty of time to get out of difficult situations and hit a teammate further upfield.
Players of his era frequently remarked that it was rare for Strauch to get tackled, such was his poise in pressure situations.
He was a strong mark and always backed himself in contested marking situations.

APART from a stint coaching the reserves and then coming back to help the Square seniors in 1977, Neville's abilities as a coach were never fully utilized at Wade Street.
His greatest contributions as a coach were to come with the blue and gold guernseys of the BFL itself.
Taking over in 1988 Neville set about building a pride and desire to wear the jumper. His passion led to the BFL reaching an inter-league level of success which has not been equalled, let alone surpassed, since.
With his signature thoroughness and ability to communicate Neville assembled a powerful group of players who wanted to represent the league.
Sandhurst and BFL defender Chris Greene frequently described the late 1980s inter-league group as "another BFL club", so binding was the camaraderie among the representative team.
Even though the Blue and Golds were belted by the Geelong League in 1988's inter-league grand final (at the East Geelong oval) the following season Strauch led them to the pinnacle.
Nothing was going to prevent Bendigo from re-establishing itself as the premier league in country Victoria.
Victories over Ovens and Murray in the semi-final and the revenge for the '88 loss with a victory over Geelong in 1989's country championships grand final at the QEO saw the Blue and Golds at the top of the VCFL pyramid.
Neville was recognized for his outstanding service to Bendigo footy --- throughout the region, as well as the city --- with the awarding of the 1989 Bendigo Football League Personality of the Year.
Strauch's influence wasn't quite over.
The Blue and Golds reached the Div. 1 grand final in 1990 after again downing Ovens and Murray at Lavington in the semi-final.
The scenes in the Lavington clubrooms after the O and M had gone down for the second successive year to the Blue and Golds had to be seen to be believed.
Senior O and M officials seemed almost ready to fall on their swords --- collectively.
Fortunately after some strong debate back and forth from the Bendigo and O and M tables, punctuated by colourful language not best suited to official proceedings, the awards for the top players in the respective leagues were handed out.
However in the 1990 play-off, this time the Strauch-led team wasn't quite able to get over the line. LaTrobe Valley won the big game in Gippsland.
Strauchy stood down as inter-league coach after three seasons in charge with a record no one has come close to matching since those heady days.

NEVILLE was than appointed as Carlton's development officer for the area. When the then VFL decided it would assume the regional development roles in its name, Neville was appointed the VFL development officer for the Bendigo region.
Committed to the growth and promotion of junior football throughout the Bendigo, central and north central area Strauchy became one of the best-known faces in under-age footy.
He held the positions of president of the VCFL Junior Board as well as spending many years with the under-17 Caltex competition and a variety of schoolboy teams.
His final great commitment to the Bendigo district came when he assumed the role of manager to the Bendigo Pioneers in the TAC Cup under-18 division.
This was a role he held until his untimely death.
During his time with the Pios, his professional approach and ability to communicate with everybody firmly established the Pioneers as a legitimate football entity in Bendigo.
Neville's commitment to developing young talent and the search for excellence is his legacy to our district.

"STRAUCHY'S here!" That would be the cry from the reception window at the old Bendigo Advertiser building in Pall Mall.
It would signal that Neville was in the building, with a press release relating either to the Pioneers or to junior footy matters. Sometimes both. Occasionally, information by word of mouth.
At the time when I was working there it seemed that Neville would appear out of nowhere, virtually every day.
Looking back, however, it seems more credible that it was two or three times a week. Most especially, naturally, during the winter-early spring months.
Neville knew a thing or two about the print media, too. He was well aware that Saturday's editions were the prime issues of the Bendigo Advertiser, so we'd see him pretty frequently on Friday afternoons.
Apart from keeping we journos and the wider reading public up to speed concerning the Pioneers, Neville's wide breadth of footy knowledge could be tapped into. On the spot, so to speak.
He had a vast knowledge about footballers, clubs, coaches, administrators and things which often got swept under the club carpets around the region.
As long as we quoted "a reliable source told us" -- or a like pseudonym --- Neville was prepared to share his knowledge with us.
The following week he'd let us know in his quiet and unassuming way whether we'd hit the nail on the head with our revelations about what had transpired at such-and-such a club, or league!

With thanks to BFNL Hall of Fame executive officer Darren Lewis and the Hall of Fame selection committee.
The late Neville Strauch was inducted into the BFNL Hall Of Fame on October, 29th, 2010. His award was accepted by his son, Dean Strauch.

Richard's selections for second week of BFNL finals ---- Second semi-final, Saturday evening: Gisborne by 11 points over Square. First semi-final, Sunday: Sandhurst by 29 points over Strath Storm.
2012 running total: 72.

By Richard Jones

GOLDEN Square proved it would be formidable opposition for the other two 1962 finalists with a convincing six-goal defeat of Castlemaine in the first semi-final.

Advertiser footy scribe John Rice reported the Square astounded most critics by not only winning, but by almost doubling the Magpies' score.

"It was thought the Square's ruckmen would be a deciding factor yet in the end when the chips were down, it was the mosquito fleet who showed their side the way to victory," he wrote in the Monday edition.

Rice listed these players as Kevin Duke, John Brereton, Don Mathews and Ron Monro.

The Bulldogs were headed just once during the cut-throat first semi-final. It came in the second quarter when Castlemaine added 4.8 to Square's two goals.

"The Bulldogs proved they had the all-round ability to match either Kyneton or Rochester later in September," Rice claimed.
The Kyneton Tigers and Demons were set to clash in the second semi of the '62 season.
The first semi loss must have been galling for the Maine's players and their supporters. In the three other clashes with the Square during 1962 Castlemaine had won on each occasion.
Rice named Kevin Shearn as "the instigator" of Square's dominating second half.
"Shearn, who had promised to be a match-winner in a forward position, was shifted to the centre against Graham Dickson.
"Dickson had been a driving force for Castlemaine. Shearn immediately became a counter for Dickson and the Bulldogs went to a four-goal lead at the three-quarter change," Rice noted.

GOING INTO the first semi, Square had lost its two final round matches. The Bulldogs went down to top teams Rochester and Kyneton leading into the finals series.
Despite these defeats, the Friday Addy reported that Square selectors had kept their confidence in their players. Carl Carboon came into the side but only to replace Waycott, who was named as 19th man.
Castlemaine strengthened their forward line with the addition of Ian Burnside on a half-forward flank, allowing Kevin McConnell to return to his regular wing position.
Other "ins" for the Magpies were ruckman Matt Cox along with defenders Mick Dolan and Robin Hilson.
Admission prices to the 1962 finals series had been raised. To get into the QEO patrons had to pay four shillings for the outer (48 cents) and 6 shillings and 10 pence (82 cents) for reserved seats in the grandstand.
The extra ten pence on the 6/10 charge was listed as tax.
Children were charged sixpence (five cents) for admission to both the outer and grandstand enclosure, but had to pay the same price as adults for reserved grandstand seats.
Legacy children were issued with free tickets for all areas.
The Football Guide price had been raised from sixpence to a shilling (10 cents) for the finals issues. High production costs were cited as the reason for the price rise.

JIM Elvey, the Advetiser's special comments writer, also heaped praise on Bulldog forward Shearn in his Monday story.
"With brilliant marking and grand positional play Shearn started many Square moves and capped off a great third quarter by kicking two, quick goals," the former South full-back wrote.
"On the other hand the Magpies were sluggish and lacked a will to win," Elvey wrote.
Hard to believe that a finals side would lack the will to win. But, hey, Elvey was at the game!
"From the outset of the semi-final, the Bulldogs played with some purpose.
"They had special players picked to tag the Magpie stars and it worked to perfection," noted Elvey.
Although chief footy scribe Rice said Maine centreman Graham Dickson was nullified by Kevin Shearn after half-time, Elvey heaped praised on the inspirational Magpie.
"One player who tried desperately to keep Castlemaine in the game was Dickson," wrote Elvey.
"Dickson was outstanding in the pivot position all day with his high marking and great, long kicking."
Both scribes concurred that Square's third term surge which yielded 4.7 was the eventual match-winning quarter.

Golden Square 3.6 5.6 9.13 14.15 (99)
Castlemaine 1.2 5.10 5.13 8.15 (63)
GOALS - Golden Square: K. Shearn 4, J. Brereton 4, K. Duke 3, R. Monro 2, J. Ledwidge. Castlemaine: K. Stevens 3, C. Wybar 2, I. Burnside, M. Cox, W. Schultz.
BEST - Golden Square: K. Shearn, W. Bonney. G. Ward, J. Brereton, D. Mathews, R. Monro, K. Duke. Castlemaine: G. Dickson, M. Stevens, R. Brown, J. Roth, C. Wybar, K. Delmenico, I. Burnside.
Replacements - Golden Square: B. Waycott replaced C. Carboon, last quarter. Castlemaine: P. Robins for R. Hilson, last term

SIDEBARS from the 1962 first semi-final weekend included the presentation of the '62 Michelsen medal to Rochester's Ray Willett.
Donor of the medal Mr. Cyril J. Michelsen, the Advertiser's editor, presented Willett with his fairest and best award.
Mr Michelsen said Willett, whose parents were in the crowd, should be extremely pleased to have won the equivalent of the time-honoured Brownlow Medal in the year when Bendigo was crowned the champion country league in all Victoria.
Willett ran a lap of honour of the QEO before the first semi-final teams ran out and was cheered heartily during his circuit, the Advertiser recorded.
Central umpire for the first semi-final was Bill Ervine. He had last umpired a BFL finals clash when he was in charge of the 1960 play-off.
NILDO Munari had just won the Sandy McPherson memorial Award as Sandhurst's fairest and best player for 1962.
Munari sneaked home by one vote. He polled 46 votes with runner-up Brian Sutton on 45.
Munari was the Maroons' only representative in Bendigo's winning 1962 VCFL championship side.
The BFL Seconds first semi-final between Sandhurst and Castlemaine was played at Eaglehawk. Start time at Canterbury Park was 12.45 pm.
Only the Thirds match, the '62 grand final between Square and South Bendigo, was played as a QEO curtain-raiser. It started at 12.15 pm.

IN THE VFL's second semi-final an inaccurate Essendon accounted for an equally wasteful Geelong by 46 points.
The MCG crowd of 95,393 set a record for a VFL second semi.
At half-time the Pivotonians led the Dons by a point: 6.13 (49) to 7.6 (48).
A dominant Essendon booted 7.15 to Geelong's 1.4 in the closing two quarters to win easily.
Finals scores: Essendon 14.21 (105) def. Geelong 7.17 (59).
Payne booted four goals for Essendon and Miller and Colin Rice (the Advertiser footy writer's brother) two apiece for Geelong.
Geelong was set to clash with Carlton in the following Saturday's VFL preliminary final.
MOUNT Pleasant won its first premiership in the Heathcote District League by accounting for Heathcote Rovers by 22 points.
HDFL grand final scores: Mount Pleasant 9.11 (65) def. Heathcote Rovers 6.7 (43).

From the Bendigo Advertisers of Friday, September 7th, Saturday, September 8th and Monday, September 10th, 1962.

Richard's tips for first weekend of BFNL finals: South Bendigo by 25 points (elim. final on Sunday); Golden Square by 17 points (qualifying final, on Saturday night).
Season total for 2012: 71.

By Richard Jones

GOLDEN Square took until the last quarter of 2007's Round 18 clash at the Camp Reserve to shake off a tenacious and hard-tackling Castlemaine.

After a stuttering start the Bulldogs trailed by 10 points at half-time and had sneaked away to a less than impressive five-point lead by the last change.

As a warm-up for the coming week's elimination final (against South Bendigo), Square's Round 18 performance had to be left in the archives.

The Bulldogs were not going to be able to afford a miserable three-goal first half in the Sunday knockout final against the Bloods.

Three majors in the opening two terms was all the Dogs could muster against the Magpies.
Playing Jason Griffin at full-forward didn't work and had it not been for the relentless running and hard work of Jason Curtain, Stacy Fiske and Chris Kent, Golden Square would have been even further behind at the half.
Attacking the scoreboard end on a warm, spring afternoon the Pies answered Fiske's opening goal with three of their own.
Adam Culvenor, Daniel Christmas and late replacement Brett Cole booted valuable majors to give the home side a handy 10-point buffer at quarter time.
However, the Magpies had suffered a major blow when tap ruckman Luke Walters was sidelined for a lengthy period after an accidental head clash with the Bulldogs' Hamish Dahl.

IN THE second term Magpie small man Jimmy Gale floated a wobbly kick over outstretched hands for a Maine goal while Rick McDonald toe-poked through a grubber with 35 seconds left on the clock.
In between, former coach Darren Walsh and 2007 skipper Christian Carter scored majors with Carter's six-pointer capping off lead-up work from Adrian McErvale and James Walsh.
By the long break the Magpies were still ahead by 10 points: 5.4 (34) to the Square's 3.6 (24).
But a four-goal-to-two third term finally wrested the lead away from the Pies for the Square. Key man in attack Luke Rosa hauled in some strong marks at centre half-forward and kicked a much-needed major following a scuffle with Lachlan Maltby.
Maine skipper Chris "Chopper" Jardine and Calvin Philp combined to land the ball with retiring coach Ian Martin for a valuable Magpie goal.
Walters, back on the field after treatment, had scored Castlemaine's early third term six-pointer --- an easy one, courtesy of a 50 metre penalty.
Time-on goals to Fiske and Mark Adamson left the Bulldogs with their slender five-point three-quarter-time advantage.

NEEDING a vastly improved showing in the last term, Carter (three goals), Rosa and Kent led the way for the visitors as they added 5.7 to the Maine's 1.1.
Golden Square coach Jeff Brennan, now the BFNL senior inter-league mentor, said his side's first half was terrible with the Magpies strong at the footy as they controlled the game.
"What we dished up wasn't acceptable after a good three quarters last round. After a decent bake at half-time today we did manage to get back into the game."
Brennan added an extra day's grace going into the Sunday sudden death final against South wasn't overly significant.
"Still, Matty O'Toole and Jake Hall will be back, but we've lost (defender) Anthony Holdstock for the season because of a fracture in an ankle bone," he said.
After his last game in charge as Castlemaine senior coach, Ian Martin said his farewell appearance wasn't quite as gut-wrenching as he'd thought it might be.
"In the final seven or eight minutes of play today we'd run out of legs and they scored a few goals.
"Nevertheless there are some fine young players at the Castlemaine Football Club and the next coach who comes along will inherit a good start," Martin concluded.

IN OTHER games which wound up the home-and-away rounds five years back, Gisborne (top of the ladder) broke away from Eaglehawk (second) at the Gardiner Reserve to win by a mammoth 92 points.
Reading that, footy followers might think the Dogs led comfortably all the way.
But scores were all tied up at half-time --- Eaglehawk 8.1 (49), Gisborne 7.7 (49).
Then the Dogs went on a rampage. They added 15 goals to just six Two Blue behinds in the second half with Anthony Belcher nailing eight goals for the day, and coach Marcus Barham five.
Ron Best Medallist Damien Brown snaffled three majors for the Two Blues.
In another blow-out Maryborough creamed Kangaroo Flat by 100 points at Princes Park.
It was Magpie coach Steve Thomson's final match in charge and his players dominated from the opening bounce against the winless Roos.
Back in the Maryborough line-up after playing 16 games for the Bendigo Bombers in the VFL reserves, Stewart Crameri dominated in the Maryborough front half.
Now a star with Essendon in the AFL, Crameri landed five of the Pies' 21 goals.
Thomson said his team had turned in a "fantastic performance" for just its fifth win of 2007.
‘We had a great build-up to this match and every player turned in a terrific effort."
Thomson said having Crameri and Jamie Bond as marking targets near goal was always going to be tough for the Flat defence.
In his final match for the Roos, former Richmond and Essendon player Ty Zantuck booted two goals. It was to be Flat coach John Rombotis' last match in charge, as well.

NORTH City outscored South Bendigo after half-time having landed just two goals in the opening half at the QEO.
The Bloods looked to be easing up but the Northies still booted 9.3 to 7.7 in the run home.
Aaron Clark, Eddie Den Ouden and Adam Richardson were best for the Ballarat-based club with Nick Sullivan booting three goals.
South was best served by midfielders Brady Childs and Cameron Hall, while tall forwards James Burke (five goals), Dayne Frew and Leigh Burke posed constant threats.
Final margin to the Bloods, who ended up with no bench, was 36 points: 17.14 (116) to North City's 11.12 (78).

WAYWARD kicking was Sandhurst playing coach Nathan Gilliland's major concern following the Dragons' 12-goal mauling of Kyneton.
On their way to a qualifying final berth the Dragons finished with 18.20 (128) to the Tigers' 8.8 (56), but posted 8.12 in the second half.
"Our conversion wasn't great," Gilliland said. "We had almost 40 shots at goal and then finished with just 18 goals overall." Assistant coach Mark Vigus booted a couple of majors along with Seamus Young, Gilliland and Lucas Ruedin. Spearhead Simon Weekley slotted five.
For the Tigers, Bryan Ruffell snared three goals and big forward Wayne Eve (now at LVFL club Mitiamo) two.

AND so to the first weekend of the 2007 finals.
Sandhurst and Eaglehawk were set for the Saturday night qualifying final, while South and Square were the clubs to meet in Sunday's sudden death elimination final.
Gisborne finished three, clear games on top and had the first weekend off.
On the netball court Maryborough and Gisborne were listed to battle out the A grade elimination final with Square and Eaglehawk matched up in the qualifying final.
Undefeated Sandhurst also finished three games ahead on top of their ladder. The Dragons had earned a clear run into the second semi-final.

Richard's tips for 2012's Round 18: Golden Square by 38 points, Sandhurst by 17, Strathfieldsaye by 43, Eaglehawk by 7 and Gisborne by 50.
2012 running tally: 66.

By Richard Jones

SOUTH Bendigo warmed up for the 1982 finals series with a hard-fought three-goal victory over Sandhurst in Round 17.
With just the concluding home-and-away round to be played 30 years ago, the Bloods made fewer errors in the final term than the Dragons to sneak home.

Had the Hurst forwards been on target the result might have been vastly different.

But they posted a wasteful 12.21 as Sandhurst toppled from second to third with its double chance in the looming finals at risk.

By contrast South spearhead Des Charles, rejoining the side after injury, nailed seven goals in a sterling performance.
His teammate, key defender Wayne Bell, was best afield. Bell hauled in mark after mark all afternoon, setting the tone for the match with a saving grab right on the goal-line in the opening moments.

He took eight marks in the tight, final quarter.

IN OTHER round 17 Bendigo Golden City F. L. Div. One clashes three decades back, Eric Pascoe booted nine goals for Golden Square. The Bulldogs slaughtered Kyneton by 122 points at Wade Street.
And Kangaroo Flat then, as now, the only former Golden City League club still in the top bracket squeaked home over cellar dweller Castlemaine by 11 points.
Top team Eaglehawk on 16 wins and one loss had the bye.
The Phil Byrne-coached Two Blues had gone down to Square in round 16 in their only blemish for the season.
Highlights of the Division Two games were Kennington's massive win over Provincial --- 43.33 (291) to 7.10 (52) --- with L. O'Brien nailing 10 goals and YCW full-forward Colin Grenfell topping the ton for the '82 season.
Grenfell drove home eight majors (for a season tally of 105) as YCW sneaked home in a cliff-hanger over White Hills: 17.13 (115) to the Hillies 17.11 (113).
It was Grenfell who won the game for the Blues. He marked and goaled in the time-on period of the last quarter to snatch victory from the Demons.

BACK to the QEO for the clash of the ‘old firm', or the ‘traditional rivals' as these fixtures have been known down the decades.
After a fiercely contested and even first three quarters the last stanza was marked by errors from both clubs.
In the end it was the Bloods, with Gary Cowling leading the way, which clinched victory.
The loss relegated the Dragons to third spot but, as history shows, they bounced back a fortnight later in the first semi-final to beat South by 39 points: 14.9 (93) to 8.6 (54).
Sacked South coach, big Bill Nalder, racked up 16 kicks and seven marks to lead his new club to victory. Some of his thumps out of the centre circle bounce-downs travelled 30 metres into the Hurst's forward line.
Not the case in Round 17, though.
The Bloods unleashed a fine second half to convert a one-point half-time lead [9.4 (58) to 8.9 (57)] into their eventual three-goal win.

I NOTED in my match report on that Monday morning three decades back that central umpire Peter Phair was right on the money.
"He did not miss much in the way of high tackles all afternoon," I wrote.
Wayne Bell, Barry Tippett, centre half-forward (the late) Graeme Wright and half-back Brian "Puss" Kendall were dominant in the third term.
Kendall was assisted in the back half by Mark Mackinder and Denis Byrne.
Wayne Hoiles broke clear of Noel Belsar for a Bloods' major. Des Charles and Tony Gundry chipped in with two more.
"Sandhurst was atrocious up forward, kicking behinds when goals were needed. The Dragons found it hard to get past Mark Mackinder who moved alongside Exell when the big forward moved to the goal square," the report said.
In fact the Hurst added 2.7 to South's 5.2 to trail at the last break.
Enter Gary Cowling. He had been largely unsighted in the first half but when moved to a forward flank booted two valuable South majors in the last term.
Cowling had a hand in the third to seal victory for the Bloods.
South desperately needed Cowling's contribution.
The Dragons had levelled the scores at the 14-minute mark of the final stanza. Denis O'Connor and Mark McErvale kicked the goals which tied up the scores at 92-points apiece.

AT WADE Street, Pascoe nailed five of his nine goals in the opening term as the Dogs shot out to an unassailable 8.6 to 0.2 lead over the Tigers.
At the long break the lead was 69 points --- 13.11 to 3.2.
Kyneton did manage to add 8.5 in the last two stanzas but the Square added even more in the same period: 16.10.
Apart from Pascoe's game-high nine majors Wayne Walsh added four for the Square, while Greg Williams, Peter Moroni and Brian Coughlan all contributed three.
Jimmy Flynn was Kyneton's major goal-scorer with four.
The subject of last week's Reflections, Alan Patterson, was best on ground with John Williams, Paul Rodda, Pascoe and Ken Smith high among the list of better players for the Dogs.
Michelsen Medal winner John Watts, David Matassoni and Flynn were the Tigers' best.
Kangaroo Flat withstood a desperate last quarter surge from Castlemaine to win by two kicks.
Elusive full-forward Steve McKerrow hammered home eight goals and was the difference between the teams.
The Roos led by 28 points at the long break and then by seven goals [14.8 to 8.2] at the last change.
But the Magpies came steaming home as they added 4.7 to a single behind to almost steal the four, premiership points.
Best for the Flat were Richard Foster, Mark Eastman and Trevor Curran while, for the Maine, Brett Fitzpatrick booted five goals with the late Stan Camov their best player.
SCORES: Golden Square 29.21 (195) def. Kyneton 11.7 (73); South Bendigo 17.9 (111) def. Sandhurst 12.21 (93); and Kangaroo Flat 14.9 (93) def. Castlemaine 12.9 (81).

AROUND the traps in 1982 and Maryborough Rovers remained a strong club.
Rovers had downed Carisbrook 22.10 to 19.14 in the MCDFL elimination final. Chewton, long gone as a functioning club, had minor grade teams in the MCDFL finals series.
In the North Central first semi-final Donald def. Wedderburn, 16.15 to 16.12, while Balranald downed Woorinen 15.18 to 9.15 in the Mid Murray first semi-final.
IN THE 12-club VFL, before the addition of interstate teams from S.A., W.A. and Queensland, Richmond was on top on 68 premiership points: 17 wins, four losses.
Hawthorn, Carlton, Essendon and North Melbourne made up the Top Five as it was then, 30 years back.
Fitzroy belted cellar dwellers Footscray 19.17 (131) to 12.11 (83) and top team Richmond eased past the Swans: 19.13 (127) to 16.14 (110).
In the only clash between Top Five clubs the Blues recorded a 70-point win over North in a shootout: 26.24 (180) to the Shinboners' 17.8 (110).
Six premiership points behind fifth-placed North on the ladder were the Roy Boys. The Lions had drawn with Carlton earlier in the season.
The bottom two clubs were Collingwood and Footscray, both with just three wins and 18 losses.

From the Bendigo Advertisers of Monday, August 23rd and Monday, September 6th, 1982.

Richard's tips for Round 17: South by 49 points, Sandhurst by 65, Gisborne by 7, Eaglehawk by 13 and Strath Storm by 44.

2012 season total: 63.

By Richard Jones

WHEN Alan Patterson ran out for his first senior game with Golden Square in 1980 few in the Bulldogs' camp could have foreseen what an impact the young ruckman would have. Not just on his club but within the Bendigo Football and Netball League as a whole, too. Having been a soccer aficianado and player until the age of 17, Patto joined the Bulldogs in 1978 and played in their under-18 team.

He served another year's apprecticeship in the Reserves the following year, but from 1980 Alan became a permanent fixture in the Golden Square senior strip.
He made his debut against Castlemaine in the opening round of 1980 at the Wade Street ground and celebrated in fine style with a Round 1 victory.
Patto was a quick learner and it wasn't long before he was universally recognised as one of the BFL's premier ruckmna.
His astute play culminated with the Bulldogs' club best and fairest in 1982.
His ability was noted by the VFL clubs in Melbourne and Patto received an invitation from Carlton in 1983 to go down to Princes Park and try his luck.
He accepted and went through a strong pre-season with the Blues. Alan played the first six matches of the season in the ruck but was then inexplicably given his marching orders.

RETURNING to his beloved Bendigo Patto carried the number one ruck duties for Golden Square for the rest of his career.
Along with that Alan had a permanent mortgage on the No. 1 spot in the BFL Teams of the Year, selected by the city's media outlets and published locally.
His mobility and strong marking re-defined ruck play throughout the 80s and he was one of the key Golden Square players opposing teams and coaches knew they had to shut down if they wanted to beat the Bulldogs.
One of Patto's amazing talents was his mobility. He was extremely quick and agile for a big man and very dangerous around the ground.
He'd regularly use his vice-like grip on the Sherrin, a feature of his strong marking, to great effect whether in the Square's attacking half or in defence.
Very rarely was he beaten in the air and Patto's great leap allowed him to give the Square's talented running players of the era first use of the ball --- either from the centre circle or around the ground at boundary throw-ins.

The club also recognized Alan's outstanding leadership qualities and he assumed the captaincy for the 1984 season.
During his time as the Dogs' skipper Pato was to hold aloft the Bendigo Advertiser premiership cup on two occasions when the Square won consecutive flags in 1988 and 1989.
The 1988 flag was especially significant. Patto and his Bulldogs' teammates stopped Northern United's winning sequence of four as the Swallows had saluted in each Big Dance from 1984-1987, inclusive.
Additionally Alan's teammate Dean Strauch took out the 1988 Nalder Medal, as best player afield in the grand final.
Strauch had been pipped by Kennington's Rod Southon in the Michelsen medal count a few days earlier in a result many observers of the time questioned.
The two 1988 counts stood, nevertheless ---- Southon, Michelsen Medal; Strauch, Nalder Medal.
Twelve months later Square saluted again. This time the grand final victory was achieved over South Bendigo, coached for the first season by former Collingwood and Essendon star, Peter Bradbury.
Final scores: Golden Square 14.13 (97) def. South 11.13 (79).

PATTO'S amazing durability is demonstrated by the fact that he only ever missed 10 games through injury in his first 11 seasons.
Maintaining a high level of fitness certainly assisted the big Bulldog ruckman as he carried all before him over 13 seasons, in all.
During that period he became one of the Square's most decorated players in its proud history.
Indeed, Patto ran out for his 200th senior game in the 1990 grand final clash with South Bendigo: a re-match of the epic season decider of 12 months earlier.
This time, however, Bradbury and the Bloods would have their revenge.
It wasn't a celebration for Patto at match end with South triumphant: 15.24 (114) to the Square's 14.8 (92).
It was Bradbury's day, though, as the Bloods took home their first Advertiser premiership cup since 1974.

INTER-LEAGUE footy was also a passion for Alan Patterson during his time at the top in the local major league.
He carried the ruck in the Blue and Gold representative sides of the time, culminating in the golden era for the BFL under coach Neville Strauch.
Patto was an integral member of the Bendigo side which played in three successive Div. 1 grand finals from 1988-1990, with the highlight the 1989 victory over the powerful Geelong league on the QEO.
In all Alan played for Bendigo 16 times, starting in the ruck in all but a handful of occasions.
Although footy fans of the 2000s might regard, with some justification, the Goulburn Valley inter-league teams as the pinnacle of country footy nowadays, when Patto was playing they were just another representative side to be beaten.
Bendigo took on the GVFL in a first round inter-league clash in May 1988 at the Deakin Reserve in Shepparton and came home victorious.
The Ovens and Murray League was another powerful country body back then, as it still is.
But the Blue and Golds accounted for the O an M in Division 1 back-to-back semi-finals in 1989 and 1990 with Patto a key member of the winning sides.

ALAN Patterson finally hung up the boots at the conclusion of the 1992 season, finishing with an impressive record of 234 senior BFNL games and 16 inter-league matches.
But that 1992 season was to have one more highlight.
The big man was called upon to stand Castlemaine's imposing full-forward, Steven Oliver.
In the '92 grand final, won by the Magpies by five points in a pulsating finish, Patto lined up at full-back on Olly.
Before the ball was bounced to start the first term there was an explosion of fisticuffs not that far from the centre square.
Magpie key forward Dean "Showie" Henderson and Square on-baller Paul McConville were involved and it took what seemed an age for the central umpires to restore order and bounce the ball to start the grand final.
Meanwhile, Patto and Oliver were at the far end of the QEO adjacent to the goal square.
In the end following one of the tightest and most exciting grand finals in BFL history Castlemaine prevailed: 14.13 (97) to Square's 14.8 (92).
Castlemaine's Simon Jorgensen was the recipient of the '92 Nalder Medal.

PATTO'S legacy is still revered out at the Wade Street ground, now known as MyJet Oval.
No one with any knowledge of the game would ever question that Alan remains one of the best ever ruckmen the powerful Bulldog club has produced.

Alan Patterson was inducted into the BFNL's Hall Of Fame in October 2010.
With thanks to the BFNL Hall Of Fame committee and its executive officer, Darren Lewis.

Richard's tips for Round 16: Sandhurst by 33 points, Gisborne by 72, Eaglehawk by 29, Golden Square by 40 and Strath Storm by 9.
2012 season total: 58.

By Richard Jones

SANDHURST and Castlemaine were the leading two clubs after 15 rounds had been played way back in 1952.

The Maroons romped home over Echuca at the Upper Reserve (the old name for the QEO) while the Magpies, despite a four- point loss to Eaglehawk, held a six, premiership point advantage over third-placed Echuca.

Rounding out the top four 60 years ago was Golden Square which romped home to a 46 point victory over Rochester at Wade Street.

In the other game fifth-placed South Bendigo improved its standing with a massive 13-goal mauling of cellar dweller Kyneton.

Bull (7) and Nalder (4) booted 11 goals between them as the Bloods increased their lead at every change.

After 15 rounds the Tigers had won just one match and were a game behind second-last Rochester.

In the early Fifties the newspaper and weekly footy book did not publish percentages, a normal practice today.

When clubs had accrued the same number of premiership points, an overall points for-points against system was used. Much like in world soccer in the 21st century.

EAGLEHAWK won the match-of-the-round with "over-riding grit and determination" the Monday match report concluded.
"For splendid all round football and excitement it was clearly the match-of-the-day. It had its climax in a goal by Castlemaine to bring the Magpies within four points of the Borough with only four minutes play left.

"Eaglehawk gave one of its best displays for a long time and showed what a threat it could prove to the leaders," the story added.

Captain Billo White and full-forward Harry Morgan, who kicked seven goals, both showed a welcome to good form while George Ilsley in the centre turned in outstanding play.
Trewarne in the ruck and James on the backline both contributed greatly to the win.

Wally Culpitt played a captain's game for Castlemaine with splendid handball and opening-up tactics.
Jack Jefferies repeatedly repelled the strong Borough thrusts as the Magpies went to half-time trailing by 11 points: 8.5 to 9.10.

The last quarter was the pick of the day. It belonged to Castlemaine and after an early goal to Morgan - his seventh - Eaglehawk did not score a further major.

"Jefferies pressed back nearly every move while Jack Merlo hammered at the Castlemaine goal with success alarming to the Borough," the report said. They added 4.4 to 1.1.
"Now on top, the Maine were the masters. Jack Merlo kicked his sixth goal with four minutes to spare and it appeared the Southerners might yet take the match.

"However Eaglehawk desperately applied the pressure and kept the ball in their forward zone until the final bell."
Apart from Merlo's six goals Castlemaine players Culpitt, Frank Langdon, Ron Sheehan and Ray Bower all added two.
Ken Smith booted three for Eaglehawk and skipper White two.

IN other games the Maroons were without Ken Scott (hand) and Peter Gurry (back). Max Molloy was promoted from the seconds with Gerard Nihill retaining his spot after a good game in the previous round.

Echuca was desperate for a firm gound. The Murray Bombers had lost to Castlemaine on a soggy ground and selectors ere unhappy, especially with forward Riley bothered by injury.
Echuca had wingmen Fitzpatrick and Gundry on the sidelines before the first term had ended while J. Fitzpatrick was on little use through a leg injury.

Sandhurst controlled play even though Echuca captain Jim Clark did better than the Maroons' Shaw in the centre.
Echuca could rarely provide a counter to Sandhurst's elusive rovers Sheahan and Lawson. The former's three goals were scored the hard way, one coming from deep in a pocket and by kicking the ball back over his head.

"Effective play of Echuca's defenders, who were consistent throughout prevented Sandhurst from finishing further in front. Jack Kirchhofer allowed Malone to collect only two goals while McKindlay, Doyle, F. Kenna and Egan frequently frustrated advances," the scribe reported.

Sandhurst booted five goals to one in the third term to take a stranglehold on the match.

AFTER an even first term at Wade Street, Golden Square drew ahead of Rochester in the second and thereafter was never seriously threatened.

The Mustards displayed better ground play and stronger defence than the Northerners.

Ron McHardy was out of the Square team with a leg injury while Rochester's Ron Watson had a broken bone in a leg and was out for the season.

Defender Ron Windridge had missed round 14 along with rovers Bob Boysen and Eric Sinclair.

"Despite the good conditions, play was not of a high standard and the final term, in particular, was congested." the footy writer at the game noted.

Rochester generally displayed surer aerial play but Golden Square's smaller men, whether roving or placed, combined well in scouting the packs to give a lot of drive. Cowling was particularly prominent.

Captain-coach of Rochester, Harry Hickey, was best for the visitors with his dominating play from the centre. Younger players Spence and ruckman Mundie should prove a big asset to the club in 1953, the writer added.

For the Square fullback K. James was excellent with Budge and K. Wilson also serviceable defenders. Elliott booted four goals for Golden Square.

SOUTH Bendigo registered a comfortable 13-goal victory over Kyneton, posting nine majors to the home club's one in the second term.

"South outclassed Kyneton for the greater part of the game and at no stage did Kyneton appear likely to present a serious threat," the Showgrounds scribe wrote.

South had Jim Elvey back from illness while brilliant back pocket player Harold Sandiford had been cleared from Sandhurst.

Frank Kyne was back, as well, after missing six weeks through injury.

Coach Alan McDonald was South's best player, along with goal-kickers Bull and Nalder and Ken Carter. Kyneton's best were Fasso and Stringer while Baker kicked three of their seven goals.

SCORES - Golden Square 15.13 d Rochester 7.15, Eaglehawk 16.16 d Castlemaine 16.12, Sandhurst 11.11 d Echuca 5.6 and South Bendigo 20.16 d Kyneton 7.11.

AROUND the traps at the end of July in 1952, White Hills was on top of the Bendigo Football Association --- later known as the Golden City League --- with Kennington, YCW and Provincial making up the top four.

Lowlight of the round was what the Advertiser called "a spiteful incident" at Kamarooka in the final quarter of the game between Northern United and Kennington.

"As several players became engaged in an incident, spectators surged onto the ground. It took the central umpire, a policeman and cooler headed players and supporters to halt the disturbance,' the match report stated.

With the victory over United, Kennington jumped to second. The Keets displaced 1951 premiers YCW who went down by four points to Harcourt.

Harcourt was fifth on the table and showed it was the BFA "danger team for the 1952 season" the Addy scribe noted.
North Bendigo came from six points down at the last change to beat Kangaroo Flat, holding the Roos scoreless in the second half.

Scores - White Hills 8.7 d Provincial 7.7, Harcourt 6.13 d YCW 6.9, Kennington 16.7 d Northern United 5.10 and North Bendigo 11.9 d Kangaroo Flat 4.6. Bottom club Huntly had the bye.

AND the 1952 Olympic Games were being staged in Helsinki, Finland at the same time. Australia had just won its sixth gold medal when 23-year-old John Davies took out the 200 metres breaststroke at the pool.

He set an Olympic record of 2:34.4. But Davies amazingly declared straight after the gold medal ceremony he was retiring from competitive swimming and would not contest the 1956 Olympics (in Melbourne).

John Marshall, Australia's representative in the gruelling 1600 metres swim final, finished a disappointing last.

Sourced from the research and archives section, Goldfields Library, Hargreaves Street, Bendigo.
From the Bendigo Advertisers of July 25th, 26th and 28th, 1952.

Richard's tips for Round 15: South Bendigo by 37 points, Sandhurst by 13, Gisborne by 84, Strathfieldsaye by 28 and Golden Square by 78.
Season tally: 53.

By Richard Jones

MARYBOROUGH held on in a pulsating last quarter at Princes Park to snatch a thriller by one point over Kangaroo Flat in a winter 2008 fixture.

It was the BFNL's closest result four seasons back, with the Magpies having to dig really deep to snatch victory.

Their 29-point lead at the last change was whittled away by the charging Roos as the winter darkness closed in.

The Flat, so accurate in the first three quarters, booted 6.7 and two clutch Pie goals to Ben Jackson and Andrew Tatchell eventually clinched the four, premiership points for the home side.

Final scores: Maryborough 16.16 (112) def. Kangaroo Flat 16.15 (111).

It was nip and tuck for most of the afternoon. First one club would snatch the lead only to see the other grab back the ascendancy.

In the final analysis it was Jamie Bond's three-goal effort in the third term --- when Maryborough booted 7.3 at the scoreboard end to the Flat's 1.3 --- which was the deciding factor.

The 29-point lead which the Magpies had established by three-quarter time was easily the biggest margin of the day. Kangaroo Flat had to work hard to close the gap to less then one kick.

Roos' skipper Tyrone Downie turned in another outstanding effort. He kicked six goals from centre half-forward while big Joel West controlled the ruck battles and fed his smaller, running teammates.

Kicking to the town end the Roos sneaked out to a three-point advantage by quarter-time, thanks to three majors off Downie's boot.

Maryborough stayed in touch with the elusive Matthew Bilton (2) and Cameron Rinaldi booting replies.
Two second quarter 50-metre penalties proved costly for the Flat as the Magpies' Adam Hurse and Matthew Brown converted from point blank range.

But the Green and White midfielders led by Tim Kelly, Trent McInnes and Ryan Doherty continued to pump the ball forward and when Doherty and Ashley Benbow popped through angled shots the Roos led by a straight kick at the main break: 9.5 (59) to 7.11 (53).

AFTER a see-sawing first half when the lead changed continually, nobody could have forecast Maryborough's third quarter surge.

With Matthew Johnston, Glenn Handley and Martin Dell supreme in midfield and across half-back, Bond became unstoppable in the Pies' front half.

He laid off Maryborough's first goal to the running Brown and then added three of his own.

Glenn Chadwick and Luke Bucknall combined to land the leather with Bond for the first before Tatchell found the big man for another.

When Matthew Brown drove home his third for the match --- from another 50m penalty --- and Bond banged home his third for the term (and fourth for the day) it looked curtains for the Roos.

Again, the match had another twist. With the Princes Park lights on and kicking to the favoured scoreboard end where 21 of the day's 32 majors were scored, the Roos weren't finished.
Rowan Warfe and Andrew Gladman started moves from the half-back line and in the front half Brown, Philip Lobb and Downie were the targets.

After Jackson capitalized on a Jamie Bond pass and was the recipient of a dubious 50m penalty from a tangled arms marking contest it was time for Tatchell to spur on the Magpies.

He courageously waited under a high floater to mark --- and then kicked truly.

THAT was the end of Maryborough's goal-scoring, however.
But it wasn't the end of the Roos. Down by 20 points, 90 to Maryborough's 110, Kangaroo Flat kept pressing hard.

Lobb and Downie were on target in their front half. Skipper Downie then brought the deficit back to eight points with his sixth major and when Denis Hickey somehow snared possession and snapped truly from a massive scrimmage, suddenly there was just a point in it.

The Magpies did manage to hold on under the lights in the dying seconds to record a memorable victory. The heart-broken Roos trudged from the field.

Magpie coach Shane Fisher said while the third quarter effort had been commendable his side contained a few players "who let their guards down" in the tense final term.

"That was our negative for the second half. That last quarter was it. But to their credit the Flat came back hard.
"At one stage in the second quarter we had recorded 18 shots (on goal) to their nine so we'd been very inaccurate before we turned in a much better third quarter."

Fisher said it was Maryborough's policy to develop young players. This group included centre half-back Darcy Richards (now at Eaglehawk), Bilton, ruckman Shane O'Connor and wingers Luke Bucknall (the 2012 skipper) and Mitchell Kennedy.

Kangaroo Flat coach Darryl Wilson said 10 minutes of the third quarter had been the difference.

"In the midfield we let them run riot and our guys just weren't accountable. I suppose in the wash-up that 10 minutes cost us the game.

"Both sides missed scoring opportunities, there's no doubt.
"We knew it was always going to be a close game and we spoke about that at half-time.

"As a club we just have to win these sorts of games. Four goals, all resulting from 50 metre penalties after pushing blokes over --- we have to work on that aspect and eliminate it," Wilson said.

MARYBOROUGH 3.4 7.11 14.13 16.16 (112)
KANGAROO FLAT 4.1 9.5 10.8 16.15 (111)

GOALS -- Maryborough: Jamie Bond 4, Matthew Brown 3, Matthew Bilton 3, Adam Hurse 2, Cameron Rinaldi, Cameron Skinner, Ben Jackson, Andrew Tatchell. Kangaroo Flat: Tyrone Downie 6, Philip Lobb 3, Ashley Benbow, Tyson Holt, Matthew Brown, Denis Hickey, Ryan McNish, Danny Manning, Ryan Doherty.

BEST - Maryborough: Jamie Bond, Matthew Johnston, Glenn Handley, Martin Dell, Luke Bucknall, Darcy Richards. Kangaroo Flat: Tyrone Downie, Joel West, Andrew Gladman, Tim Kelly, Trent McInnes, Rowan Warfe.

MARYBOROUGH was well in the mix for a BFNL finals berth four seasons ago when they downed the Roos.

The Magpies eventually clinched fifth spot and a place in the elimination final with an 11-goal win over Castlemaine in the very last round of August that year.

But they had their concerns leading up to the sudden death final.

Joel Malone had been booked in for scans on an ankle injury while Jamie Bond sat out the final quarter-and-a-half and was limping noticeably when he went off.

Malone did not re-appear after half-time.

Coach Shane Fisher and club officials were hopeful that the inspirational midfielder plus key position player Bond would be right for the knockout Sunday final against Golden Square.
Fisher was satisfied with his club's showing in 2008.

After the victory over the Maine, he said "there were probably a few people around who thought we might finish last.
"So it's a great thing for the club for us to be looking at finals footy this year."

Richard's selections for split Round 14 - July 21st: Kangaroo Flat by 39 points, Strathfieldsaye by 19 points and South Bendigo by 62 points.

July 28th: Sandhurst by 11 points and Gisborne by 43 points.

Season tally for 2012: 50.

By Richard Jones