Originally published July 4, 1988
IMPERIALS’ winning run came to an end when they staged a thrilling draw with South Mildura at Sarah Oval.
Although the standard of football displayed would have disappointed the purists, it was a neck and neck grind all day, with the Bulldogs hanging in the game through Imps’ grossly inaccurate kicking for goal.
From 36 scoring shots Imperials could manage just 12 goals, whereas the home side kicked with uncanny accuracy to score 15 goals from 21 shots.
Final scores were Imperials 12.24 (96) to South Mildura 15.6 (96).
The following week Imperials were defeated by second-placed Robinvale by seven points, after trouncing the Eagles by more than 100 points in their previous meeting.
Robinvale’s victory ended Imperials’ unbeaten run of 39 matches — their first loss since July 1986.
Imperials showed the draw and loss in consecutive weeks was merely a blip on the radar when the following week the Green and Whites smashed Irymple by 131 points despite pouring rain.
The league record winning streak came amid an equally stunning amount of finals success for the club after missing the final altogether in 1985.
Over the following 14 seasons, Imperials never missed a finals series and played in 12 grand finals for nine premierships, including four in succession from 1992 — a feat unrivalled in competition history.
