THURGOONA roared back into the top three with an 88-point obliteration of fellow premiership contender Rutherglen on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs responded to their first loss since April with their most ominous performance of the season – a 19.16 (130) to 5.12 (42) belting of the Cats.
It is the second time this season the Bulldogs have beaten Rutherglen by more than 10 goals and it means they will secure the double chance if they can beat Chiltern and Kiewa-Sandy Creek in the final two rounds.
With Matt Fowler moving up the ground to centre half-forward, Todd Miller (seven) and Jake Bruce (six) made the most of a more open 50m arc to combine for 13 goals.
The performance was even more impressive considering Bruce had to pass a fitness test on Friday night to take his place in the team.
In another promising sign for the Bulldogs, Kade Brown played his best match since returning from a serious foot injury.
Thurgoona co-coach Jamarl O’Sullivan said it was important to respond after a disappointing loss to Mitta United just a week earlier.
“We had to respond from last week because we were woeful,” he said.
“It was one of those games where, usually you have one or two people down, we had 10 or 12.
“It was nice to turn it around. If we’re all contributing, and everyone plays that team footy, we know we can beat anyone on our day.”
O’Sullivan said the Bulldogs welcomed the challenge of having to win their last two games – including a possible qualifying final preview against the Hawks – to secure the double chance.
“If we can get through the next couple of weeks, we can take confidence heading into that back end of the year,” he said.
“It’s not like we’re going to have a soft run, we should be pretty hardened for finals so, in my opinion, you couldn’t get a better preparation.
“It’s not a bad spot to be in, we can’t take our foot off the pedal.”
In other matches, Wahgunyah made a mathematical certainty of the top five with a gutsy two-point win over Tallangatta.
Heath Northey, Leigh Schulz and Dean Skinner were instrumental for the Lions in their best win of the season.
Oliver McEwan and Daniel Cassidy played key roles for Yackandandah as the Roos reversed their early-season hiding at the hands of Chiltern.
Kiewa-Sandy Creek turned in a big second half to defeat Beechworth with Jacob Barber and Luke Norton-Smith in the thick of the action.
Mitta United and Barnawartha scored big wins over Dederang-Mt Beauty and Wodonga Saints.