EAST Gambier reclaimed some of its 2017 Western Border football season form on Saturday and let the rest of the league know it was not done with the 2018 season, instilling the first defeat on Casterton Sandford this year.
The Cats had previously taken all before them, with one drawn result with Millicent, while the Bulldogs have struggled to string quality games together.
But that made little difference on Saturday as East hit the ground running from the first bounce and claimed a 23-point victory.
Much of the result must go to Mark Rumbelow, who finished with a bag of six goals on a day that was certainly not easy for scorers.
In fact, those six came in the first half, with not one miss to his name for the entire four quarters of football in an impressive display that put the Bulldogs on the front foot.
That effort, combined with his work around the ground resulted in him being awarded the MAC Be a Game Changer medal.
It was a much-needed first half of football, with the likes of Matt Scanlon and Kev Thomson missing from the forward 50, while Jesse Fry was again out of the roster.
With the wind blowing hard across Island Park, it was a massive task for the Bulldogs and they stood up to the challenge, taking the advantage by five points at the first break after both sides managed four shots on goal.
But it was the second term that made the difference at the end of the day, with East banging on four goals, while holding the Cats to one.
Despite the absence of Fry, the East mid-field worked well, with the likes of Josh Ransom, Grady Janeway and coach Matt Willson clearing the ball and pushing forward to provide Rumbelow with every opportunity to score.
By the long break the 23-point lead was hardly enough to settle the final result, but the Bulldogs matched the Cats from there on to keep the game out of reach.
After his early prowess in front of the big sticks, Rumbelow pushed up the ground, with his high marking and work rate helping to create turnovers, which the running Bulldogs pounced on.
There was no shortage of pressure from the Cats, as they looked to remain undefeated for the season, but the Bulldogs were certainly up to the challenge.
John Forster had another big game around the ground, clearing the ball along the wing then pushing up forward, while Mark Kieselbach applied his usual desire to win the ball from the ruck and around the ground.
But the Bulldogs needed to close down the dangerous Cats forward pack, which included Callum Currie, Michael Cummings and Tom Sullivan.
They achieved that goal with a well-managed defensive effort that saw only Currie with multiple goals – just two.
In the end it was a big win as the season begins to wind down, adding to not only the premiership points, but also to the belief within the East group.
Willson said the victory came about by a sustained effort over the full four quarters, which he said was needed every week if the side is to succeed again this year.
“The mentality of Western Border 2018 is that you are up against it every week,” he said.
“You have to build a mindset that is ready to go and switched on for four quarters.
“Taking on Casterton at Island Park is a tough gig and you go in with what you think will give you the best chance of winning the game.
“We executed our plan really well and it came off for us, which was pleasing.”
Willson said much of the success came from mid-field pressure, which created turnovers the Bulldogs were able to capitalise on.”
“They are a good contested footy side with a really good mid-field that goes deep,” he said.
“It was about putting pressure on their mids and matching them, trying to beat them around the stoppages.
“We thought if we could win it inside we have the runners outside to finish off, which all clicked together.”
Despite missing some big names from the roster, Willson said he was pleased the remainder of the squad bought into the game plan and executed so well.
“Earlier in the year we have had some games that have probably been winnable for us, but have fallen the other way,” he said.
“We have worked really hard on building a mindset that if we do get a couple of goals down we remain positive and continue with the plan we have.
“It is really good to see that coming through and in the end it worked for us on the weekend.”
The Bulldogs were up against it defensively with such a strong attacking side as Casterton, which boasted seven goal kickers for its eight major scores and attacked at every opportunity.
“They are a side that keeps coming,” Willson said.
“They are well coached and Hamish (Jarrad) has them in a position where they believe they can win it from any point.
“Right up to about four minutes to go we had a three or four goal lead and there was genuine belief out there they could win it.
“When you play Casterton you need that sustained effort for 30 minutes every quarter to shut them down.
“If you do lapse for five minutes they can bang on four or five goals pretty quickly and we knew that from the start.
“It was all about that coming together, which came off for us.”
The end result was welcome in a season that has seen plenty of highs and lows.
But Willson still clearly has a big belief his side is capable of taking the competition on and succeeding.
“I think we have known we are capable of that type of football, but it has not quite been executed yet this season,” he said.
“In patches it has, but to play four quarters at that level is big for our belief going forward.
“But this season, every week we have to come in with that mind set, so for us it is about backing it up this week.”
