The Daylesford Bulldogs began their 2010 campaign to achieve back-to-back premierships in poor form, going down to their cross-town rivals by 55 points.

As round one contests usually go, the footy was hot early, with both teams trying to be the side that would settle first.

Daylesford managed to do so, kicking the first two goals through Darren Chambers, who was played in a different role up forward for the Bulldogs.

Playing coach Luke Beattie also managed two goals later in the term to give Daylesford a handy four-goal buffer.

But Hepburn forward Andy McKay's skill and uncanny goal sense came to the fore, keeping the Burras in the hunt during the first quarter.

As the game unfolded, the new look Hepburn outfit started to gel, with the bigger bodies of Billy Barnes, Jarryd King and Anthony Baker starting to work themselves into the game.

This trio should become an asset during the year, allowing the likes of Dan O'Halloran, newcomer Daniel Rees and the James brothers to play their natural games.

Trevor Johnson was becoming a huge stumbling block every time Daylesford pushed forward.

The newly crowned Bill Malone medallist took some telling marks as well as setting up numerous scoring opportunities.

The beauty of the win may have been that the goal scoring wasn't left to the duo of McKay and Lee Cox.

Regular fullback Brendan Shepherd set the crowd alight with his four goals and Barnes chipped in with three vital goals as well.

The return of Nick Walsh was also a good one, throwing his body into contests and dishing out handballs to his fleetfooted team-mates.

Club legend Matthew Brown's number 21 made a comeback to senior football as its new owner Liam O'Halloran made his senior debut.

The taller of the O'Halloran clan, young Liam found the ball often enough to suggest he will be a player to watch in years to come.

With the opening round out of the way, Hepburn is on the road this Saturday to tackle Dunnstown.

Daylesford will unveill its 2009 premiership flag against Clunes on Saturday in its first home game of the season.

Final score: Hepburn 19.12.126 def Daylesford 10.11.71. Best: T. Johnson, D. Rees, N. Walsh, J. King, A. Mckay, B. Barnes.

Goals: B. Shepherd 4, L. Cox 4, A. McKay 3, B. Barnes 3, D. O'Halloran 2, A. Ware 1, K. Sexton 1, J. James 1.