Bulldog brilliance as Bunyip marches on

by Davyd Reid
Post-game scenes barely believable for an elimination final.
For Bunyip, it has been a long way back. From the bottom end of the ladder to now making a final, it was a big step in their progression.
The emotion was there to see at Yarragon on Sunday, after the Bulldogs arrived with a nothing to lose attitude and clinched the victory with the final goal of the contest to win 9-9 (63) to 8-10 (58).
Players sprinted from the bench to the forward line while a mob of spectators breached the fence in celebrations you might expect of a team winning a grand final.
Many had written the Bulldogs off from winning a final while admiring their effort to make it.
Indeed, one pundit made this scribe aware of a comment following a Saturday radio broadcast along the lines of 'it looks like Neerim-Neerim South will play Buln Buln next week'.
The Bulldogs came out hungry and made the fast start, winning the midfield battle to rattle on the first four goals of the contest.
From there the Lyrebirds worked their way back into the contest to eventually take the lead, only to come undone in the final minutes.
With Tahj Murphy holding possession for a long shot at centre-half-forward, the Bulldogs were looking at one final roll of the dice given they trailed by one solitary point.
His task was made simpler, when a Buln Buln player called into question an umpire decision that gifted Murphy a shot from the goal square seconds before the final siren.
Earlier, it was the Bulldogs who came out in hot form.
Dylan Cavalot converted from a deep entry, Myles Wareham snapped from the goal square and Will Grummisch made good of a downfield free kick.
When Kai Jones snapped truly from the pocket to give the crowd a lift early in the second term, Bunyip had shot out to a handy 27-point buffer.
Sam Batson curled back a set shot nicely as the Lyrebirds began a mission to work their way back into the contest.
Shaun Beecroft drifted forward for a goal before Cruze Ross converted after being held.
A snap from the pack had Buln Buln back into the contest quickly, with a Jack Blakey snap proving steadier for the Bulldogs heading into half time.
A Logan Wallmeyer major put the Lyrebirds back in touch before a Batson run through the middle set up Riley Eastwell to run around his opponent and put them in front.
Mitch Nobelius, Will Battley, Thomas Axford, Trent Baker, Zach McMillan and Charles Kilmartin had helped the Lyrebirds back into the contest.
Callum Bourne, Will Grummisch, Jeb McLeod, Oliver Ockwell-Payne (who put in an enormous final quarter), Jack Alexander and Thomas Blakey were keeping the Bulldogs in the hunt.
Ockwell-Payne ran through a goal to level the scores early in the final term.
Kilmartin made good of a deep entry, only for Ockwell-Payne to trouble his defender and win a free kick for a hold to keep the Bulldogs in touch.
Cruze Ross ran through a goal to extend the lead, before Reid Jenkin converted from half forward to reduced the margin to one-point early into time on.
The desperate Bulldogs won the ball forward again, ably assisted by a 50-metre penalty for umpire dissent.
It saw Murphy slam through the goal as the siren sounded.
Elation for the Bunyip players and supporters, who celebrated loudly at the scoreboard end of the ground.
At the other end, devastation near the Buln Buln bench as a mother worked to soothe her almost inconsolable child.