FOUR years ago Thurgoona led Mitta United comfortably at quarter time of the grand final and faltered.
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There was no way the Bulldogs would make that mistake twice.
Whereas Thurgoona kicked just one goal in the final three terms in 2012 to be thrashed by 59 points, this time around the Bulldogs put their foot on the Blues’ throat to win 18.20 (128) to 10.8 (68).
From the first bounce, the Bulldogs were switched on.
Jake Bruce got the ball rolling with a goal five minutes in and Lucas Mellier, who overcome a knee injury to take his place in the side, doubled the advantage a minute later.
By the time, Barton medallist Jayden Kotzur set up Ben Lloyd with a pinpoint pass, the Bulldogs led by three goals and the warning bells were starting to sound for the Blues.
Craig Lieschke got Mitta United on the board with a clever snap midway through the opening term but back-to-back goals to Todd Miller from free kicks in the forward pocket ensured the Bulldogs took a 24-point advantage into quarter-time.
A fiery start to the second quarter saw Kotzur leave the field with a bloodied head after an all-in brawl.
Nathan Reynoldson extracted himself from the fracas to kick Mitta United’s second goal of the match before Matt Fowler inflicted some physical and scoreboard pain on the Blues.
The six-time Albury premiership player kicked his first goal for the day after a heavy collision with Mitta’s Daniel Stewart, who took no further part in the match.
Darcy Eaton kept the Blues in touch with a nice goal from a tight angle before the Bruce-inspired Bulldogs slammed on four majors in as many minutes to set up a match-winning 47-point lead at half-time.
The Blues were always going to mount a challenge at some point and it came early in the third quarter.
With Tyson Gorupic stepping up on the ball, the Blues controlled the opening 10 minutes and goals to Eaton and Lieschke had the margin back to 34 points.
The Bulldogs pinched a goal against the run of play when Miller was awarded a highly contentious 50m penalty for Jarrod Gorupic throwing the ball too high in the air after the Bulldog won a free kick.
The Blues put the setback behind them to kick the last two goals of the third term through Alex Beggs and Reynoldson to reduce the margin to 32 points at the final change.
Kicking into the breeze in the last quarter, it was going to take something out of the ordinary for the Blues to register a famous victory.
Instead, it was the Bulldogs who moved in for the kill.
Miller and Bruce capped fine games up forward with their fourth and fifth majors respectively before Kotzur and Zac Gibbons streamed into open goals as the Bulldogs moved into party mode.
Thurgoona co-coach Peter Copley was proud of how the Bulldogs responded to the Blues’ challenge in the third quarter.
Seasoned campaigners Aydan Brown and Jamarl O’Sullivan led the way in the middle with young guns Lloyd and Darcy Moore cashing in on their good work.
“We just needed three quarter-time to regroup a little bit,” he said.
“You always expect Mitta to come back and do something.
“Our guys were absolutely terrific.
“I think one of the good things for us in the past eight weeks is that we’ve had a really good rotation of guys that have stood up.”
The Gorupic brothers, Ethan O'Donnell and Brenton Olsen never gave up for the Blues but coach Simon Hillier conceded they left themselves too much work to do after being jumped by the Bulldogs in the opening quarter.
“We tried to push through and get momentum back on our side but they’re a quality side and they fought back at us when we tried,” he said.
“They’ve got quality players all over the field, you shut one down and another one bobs up.”