On a calm winter's day, a bitter chill was in the air, but the action out in the middle was hot with the Bill Malone Cup up for grabs.

The recent rain made Victoria Park very heavy, but the class of both sides rose above the conditions at times to produce some high standard football.

And it was the in-form Dan O' Halloran who got the ball rolling, kicking Hepburn's first goal in the opening minutes.

The battle out of the middle was always going to be a telling one, with the seasoned campaigners of Daylesford up against a midfield that is starting to possess the same amount of ability that the Dogs have been accustomed to for years. Except for Nick Sullivan's tag on Andy McKay,

there were no so called "tags", and both sides went head to head in pursuit of winning the footy. Jarrod James racked up the possessions and hardly wasted any of them, as well as doing all the hard things when the opposition had the ball.

His efforts won him the Bill Malone medal for best on ground.

Down back, Dan Smith, Trevor Johnson and Brendan Shepherd used their experience to quell their quality opponents. Smith in particular has been a revelation. Picked up under the father-son rule, he plays with the same uncanny style that made his old man Col a favourite with

Burra supporters throughout the '80s and '90s.

At the other end of the ground Jimmy Rodgers showed his class again, and no-one would have noticed Lee Cox as being a dominant forward.

But by the end of the day, his pure work rate, in the tough conditions, gave him the impressive haul of five goals by game's end.

All eyes now turn this week to the Laurie Sullivan Reserve, as Hepburn take on another side in second position on the ladder, Dunnstown. Huge old rivals, and with Cox on 94 goals, the countdown will be on as he closes in on that magical figure.