A blistering second half was enough to secure a fourth straight win for Bundoora, proving far too strong for Eltham in the Northern Football League’s top division.
While the two sides went into the game at opposite ends of the ladder, Eltham took the fight up to Bundoora on the Bulls home deck but ran out of legs late as the home side took a 16.17 (113)-7.3 (45) victory.
In difficult conditions, and with a strong wind blowing, Bundoora had twice as many scoring shots as its opponents but missed some good opportunities as it led by just nine points at quarter-time.
A wasteful 2.6 in the second term meant Eltham remained in the contest at the long break, but the two goal margin to that point would be as close as the visitors would get. A 5.6 to 2.1 third quarter put the result beyond doubt, while a final quarter barrage of 5.3 was made all the better by stopping Eltham from registering a score.
Gary Moorcroft continued his strong recent form with five goals, while Josh Grabowski was one of the best on the ground and picked up four goals himself.
With Northcote Park going down in a big loss to top-placed Macleod, Bundoora now sit equal second on points, just percentage behind Northcote Park in a logjam at the top of the table.
Elsewhere, Whittlesea grabbed a confidence-boosting win over Montmorency to give it hope of a late season move up the table.
Going into the round just percentage off the bottom of the ladder, Whittlesea staged a second-half comeback to grab its fourth win of the season, 12.13 (85)-7.16 (58). Early in the game it looked to be going to the pre-game script, with Montmorency taking a two-goal lead into the first break and holding it into half-time.
But Whittlesea came out in the third term with a purpose, and four unanswered goals swung momentum firmly in the Eagles favour.
Montmorency kicked a wasteful 0.7 for that term, and while it was marginally better in the last quarter with 2.2, the Eagles could sense a win and kicked five goals to seal the win.
Brenton Briffa and Janan Daniel kicked three goals each for Whittlesea to be among the Eagles most influential players.
With five games to play, Whittlesea moved a game clear of relegation.
