A goalkeeping master class from Peter Cleave and one of the goals of the year from Tom Griffin was just the tonic for the Bulldogs to stretch their unbeaten run to two!.

In one of the matches of the season, Lions goalkeeper Steven Dempster was equal to the task, and front man Brenton Perry also filed his case for goal of the day in a pulsating first half.

All the action on the scoreboard was completed by half-time, with the teams settling on a 1-1 draw.

"We're completely chuffed with that," Bulldogs team manager Neil Coster said.

"It was a very tactical game and we held them to a draw, which is what a lot of other teams haven't been able to do.

"We were close to knocking them off so it was a very good result." The Bulldogs are starting to turn the corner after a slow start. The injection of three internationals in the transfer window has lifted the red, white and blues. "We're coming to the halfway mark and starting to pick up the points we need to progress to the finals with a bit of luck," Coster said. "We went out with a desire to win and just couldn't pull it off, but we gave it a hell of a shake."

Cleave was the Bulldogs' saviour time and again.

"He had an absolutely bottler," Coster said. "He stood out with great saves from shots that could have cost us the game."

The match will be remembered for a moment of brilliance by Griffin, who retrieved a long, looping pass from Argentinean import Javier Telechea and swivelled into the attacking circle to fire into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs meet Yarra Valley in the eighth round in Bellfield on Saturday.