Hepburn coach Jason Olver is used to tough encounters at Dunnstown and Saturday’s clash with the old foe didn’t disappoint.
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The Burras were made to fight hard for their 20-point win.
Despite their valiant efforts, Hepburn suffered a drop on the Central Highlands Football League ladder.
Hepburn started the round in fifth spot, but was leapfrogged by Bungaree on percentage.
And the end of the day, coach Olver was simply happy to come away with the points from a venue his club has traditionally struggled at.
“We played terrible, there’s no two ways about it,” Olver said of Saturday’s performance.
“But we got through unscathed, we got four points and we always knew playing at Dunnstown that it’s never going to be easy. It’s just the history of the Hepburn Football Club.”
Olver said Brad McKay played a “fantastic” game in the middle for the Burras, which were also well served by Finn Anscombe and Leigh Santurini in defence.
After describing the game as a “dour struggle”, Olver paid tribute to a Dunnstown team that is yet to register its first points for the season.
Olver said the Towners – which have played six of last year’s finalists in the opening seven rounds – will win plenty of matches in the back end of the campaign.
Despite suffering another loss, Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams took some positives out of the team’s seventh-straight defeat in 2017.
“I’m really pleased with the improvement and progress of our young group of players,” Abrams said.
“They played a really disciplined brand of footy.”
Mitchell Kennedy, Sam Jenkins and Ben Collins were among the Towners to shine in the weekend against Hepburn.
Saturday’s result comes ahead of a huge period for the Burras, which have big games against Beaufort, Springbank and Waubra in the coming rounds of the Central Highlands Football League.
Next weekend’s battle with the Crows will see Nick Dal Santo pull on the Hepburn jumper in a special appearance from the former St Kilda and North Melbourne star.
Dal Santo is set play alongside his cousin and 2017 recruit Luke Stanton on Saturday.
Dunnstown has another tough match against Waubra to plan for before things start to get a little easier in the run home to finals.