Bundoora showed it can’t be discounted in the race for the Northern Football League division 1 premiership.
After only playing well for one quarter last week in their loss to Northcote Park, the Bulls bounced back in brilliant fashion against an in-form Greensborough in Sunday’s elimination semi-final.
The Bulls put together four strong quarters of football and it showed on the scoreboard, especially after half-time.
The Bulls led by three goals at the main break before scoring eight goals to three in the second half to claim a 16.12 (108)-8.7 (55) win.
Bulls coach Ricky Dyson said it was the best team four-quarter effort the team had put on the park all season.
“We felt like we had control early, which was really pleasing, and in terms of a team effort, I think it’s our best four quarter effort for the year,” he said.
“It’s really nice to do that after last week when we were a bit disappointed with how we played.
Dyson said the key to the game was winning the contested ball and the getting it into the forward line quickly.
He said the Bulls thought they had a number of good match-ups in the front half and that they could expose Greensborough’s defence.
Danny Younan, who was named the Bull’s best, was one of the players they looked for up forward and he turned it on in the first half, kicking three goals.
“They like to keep it in the contest … it was just going to be a hard slog today,” Dyson said.
“Fortunately for us, we probably got on top early in the game and we didn’t have to do anything extraordinary.
“He [Danny] looked really dangerous for us and we made the most of that match-up. At the moment, we have nearly 12 guys who are rolling through the forward half for us and it’s important we’ve got an even spread of goal kickers … we’re getting that.”
Todd Hughes also kicked three goals, as 10 players hit the scoreboard.
Defensively the Bulls were just strong, capitalising on any small mistake made by Greensborough’s forwards.
The Bulls will face Northcote Park for the second time in three weeks with a grand final spot is on the line.
Dyson said his players would need to play a lot better than they did in the first week of the finals, when they lost by two points.
“Northcote Park beat us pretty convincingly,” he said. “I know it was only two points [loss], but we played only 25 minutes of good footy.
“We thought they had the measure on us for most of the day and we want to make amends for that.
“They’re a really slick unit. If you don’t win the contest in the middle of the ground, they can score really heavily.”
