GVL | Gallery | Euroa walks away with four points against undermanned Bulldogs

Euroa, led by talented forward Erish Uthayakumar and his five-goal haul, showed why it is a premiership contender early in the round-10 contest.

The visitors flexed their muscles in the opening half with a nine-goal-to-one blitz that helped shape the 44-point triumph.

Gun onballer Ben Giobbi starred in a best-afield display, gathering a truckload of disposals, while the Magpies’ forward line was firing on all cylinders.

The highlight of the first half was a classy check-side goal from Uthayakumar tight on the boundary line.

“We started really positively for an away game,” Euroa coach Scott Rowan said.

“It was a fantastic day and the boys certainly rocked up to play.

“Our forward pressure helped create turnovers and the boys up forward were able to capitalise.

“Erish had a couple to his name, he kicked one from the boundary, so we were really pleased with how things were at halftime.”

However, the home side - battling a growing injury list - came to life after the main break.

Tatura, without half a dozen regulars, blooded two debutants in teenager Jaidyn Bathman and winger Will Pyke.

It was a different Bulldogs outfit to the one before halftime, as they won the second half by six points.

Rowan credited the Bulldogs for fighting it out until the final siren.

“We knew they would respond at halftime,” he said.

“They brought a large amount of pressure to the contest and I thought a lot of their key players, as well as their youngsters, all stood up.

“Linc (Wellington) was one of them, he just reads the ball so well.

“Full credit to Tatura for their response, but I thought we probably dropped our intensity off a little and that was disappointing.

“You want to play four quarters of footy, that's the challenge for us going forward.”

But there were still plenty of positives for Rowan's men.

The performance from his side's forwards - with Uthayakumar, Tristan Davies, Lachie Hill and Jack McKernan combining for 11 goals - was a shining light.

“The forward line, when its up and going like that, it's really exciting to watch,” Rowan said.

“Erish and Tristan complement each other, they work really well together.

“Lachie and Jack are gelling together with the those other two as well, which is fantastic.”

Rowan also praised the effort of defender Jack Frewen, who was tasked with curtailing the skilled Billy Cooper.

“I thought Jack did an amazing job,” he said.

“He followed his man around all day and didn't give him an inch.

“Most people don't see the work he does but we have been really impressed with his season.”

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