POINT Cook is back to its ominous best after a stirring 11-point win over the Northern Blues in the Victorian Amateur Football Association division 4 at Ruthven Reserve on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have not snarled so fiercely since their hot early season form.
“To play away and come away with that sort of win and, more to the point, the way we actually played, it was one of our best wins since the opening three rounds of the year,” said Bulldogs coach Daniel Fraser. “Our brand of footy was really good.”
The importance of the victory was not lost on Fraser, with the fourth-placed Bulldogs gaining a game break on the chasing pack.
“It was the ultimate eight-point game for us,” Fraser said. “It’s going to keep us a little bit ahead of the pack that’s forming for the last couple of spots in the finals.”
The Bulldogs produced a six-goal-to-two second term to take a 25-point lead in to half time.
The Blues hit back in the third with four goals to one.
With the game on the line at the start of the last quarter, it was the cooler heads and the ferocious attack of the Bulldogs that prevailed.
“Our composure under pressure was really good,” Fraser said.
Errol Henderson, a speedy winger who has endured his fair share of injuries this season, produced arguably his best performance for the Bulldogs.
“He was absolutely fantastic. He used the ball well and laid some really great tackles to turn the ball over,” Fraser said.
Brendan Garrick was a springboard out of the last line of defence. Jack O’Brien was a tackling machine, Mark Pozzuto never stopped burrowing in, and the icing on the cake was three goals from Rick Munn.
The Bulldogs (7-4) host Box Hill North (4-7) at Saltwater Reserve on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Werribee Districts trailed at every change to lose by 30 points to Caulfield Grammarians on the road in a hard-fought Victorian Amateur Football Association Premier B game on Saturday.
Through Chris Molivas, Adam Alifraco and Matthew Turner (three goals), the Tigers tried hard to get back into the game but could never bridge the gap.
The Tigers will visit fourth-placed St Kevin’s Old Boys on Saturday.
In division 3, Old Westbourne is edging closer to a winless season after a 12th consecutive loss in which it managed a single goal in a 117-point thrashing by Albert Park.
The Warriors will target Saturday’s trip to Power House, a team sitting just two spots above them, as an opportunity to break their duck.
