The Bulldogs lost the lead for the first time since the 16-minute mark of the first quarter early in the final term, trailing by two goals.

But the underdogs then kicked the last six to post an impressive 14.9 (93) to 10.12 (72) win.

“The best part was that we responded, the response was really good,” an exhausted Wodonga coach Dean Harding said.

The Bulldogs suffered a gut-wrenching blow early in the final quarter when classy Tom Johnson suffered a badly broken leg.

“He’s a ripper, he’s a great kid and it’s one of those that knocks you in the guts a bit,” Harding said.

In a nice touch, his Yarrawonga opponent remained with Johnson in the middle of the ground until help arrived.

It was a massive blow for the home team as Johnson had been one of the best.

The first half resembled Wodonga’s other upset, a 40-point caning of three-time premiers Albury.

The Bulldogs applied tremendous pressure and used the ball well in racking up a four-goal break at half-time.

But, unlike the Albury game, the Pigeons responded and kicked five goals to one in the third term, adding the first two of the final stanza to break the game open.

The visitors’ best in underrated midfielder Matt Gorman kick-started the fightback with a superb running goal from 50 metres before adding another and then setting up Brad O’Connor for the lead.

“I don’t know whether we were flat after last week, but after half-time, we came good,” co-coach Chris Kennedy said.

“They beat Albury with the same sort of pressure-based style and as much as they were made aware of it, they didn’t have the same intensity as what they did for four quarters against Albury last week.”

Wodonga’s Collingwood VFL defender Ryan Pendlebury didn’t play, only adding to the Bulldogs’ performance.

“We believe when we play the way we plan to play, we’re competitive with anyone,” Harding said.

“We also understand when we don’t play that way, we make it really hard for ourselves.”

Since the Albury win, the Bulldogs had won just one from four, struggling to kick goals.

But star recruits Jarrod Hodgkin (three) and Steve Murray (four) responded, with the former VFL forward levelling the score after 13 minutes of the final term.

“It was a mongrel (kick), it just fell over the line, I reckon if he’d have timed it better, he would have touched that one,” Murray said.

Burly ruckman Matt Seiter was outstanding, while defender Damian Jones was cool under pressure.