North Heidelberg great Shane Harvey kicks 1000th goal in win over Hurstbridge

North Heidelberg great Shane Harvey brought up a magical milestone in the Bulldogs win over Hurstbridge and won a dual with Bridges spearhead Bailey Jordan.

Shane Harvey in action for North Heidelberg.

Shane Harvey won the battle and North Heidelberg won the war.

Already a legend of the Northern Football League and his club, Harvey officially stamped his place in history by kicking his 1000th goal in the Bulldogs’ 63-point win over Hurstbridge at Ben Frilay Oval on Saturday.

His fifth goal in a bag of eight sparked celebrations with teammates coming from all parts while non-playing clubmates and a large group of supporters invaded the ground to mark the achievement.

As he has done so often since arriving at Shelley Reserve in 2008, Harvey marked strongly on the lead and his set shot never looked like missing.

“It was really exciting, his kids, his family and close friends – not to mention our own guys – got out on the field to celebrate that moment,” North Heidelberg coach Jason Heatley said.

Shane Harvey in action for North Heidelberg.

Congratulations to @sharvs91, who today booted his 1000th goal for @NorthHeidelberg.

The superstar forward reached the milestone when he slotted his fifth goal in the Bulldogs' 63-point win over Hurstbridge.

Here's the moment Harvey made history, thanks to @sportscastauspic.twitter.com/yKfd6j1V2v

— Northern FNL (@northernfnl) April 24, 2021

The postpone was quite touching, we got both sides together and Tills (Hurstbridge coach Jarrod Tilley) presented Shane with the match ball.

“I think it was a bit of a relief for him to get that done and he can move on to the next part of his legend so to speak.

“For somebody to do that at local level, at the one club, is extremely significant and something we celebrated post-game.

“I’m sure there’ll be more to come and it will be a tough ask to match or beat that in the future, I’d say it will never happen.”

It was a superb bounce back after a rough 1.5 performance last week against Northcote Park.

Brother Brent Harvey also got in on the act with four goals as a late inclusion, unable to travel with North Melbourne due to Western Australia’s COVID situation.

Not only did Harvey bring up his milestone but also came out on top in an old-school spearhead dual with Bridges’ Bailey Jordan, who booted seven majors at the other end.

Heatley rated defender Brandon Bailey as his team’s best in the 23.18 (156) to 14.9 (93) victory.

Jason Heatley talks to his North Heidelberg players.

Liam Nunan, Kyle McDonald and Curtis Howden-Crhak also impressed, while Jordan and Cooper Perrin were the Bridges’ best.

Sitting 3-0, North Heidelberg faces another test when it hosts Montmorency next weekend.

The Magpies are coming off an upset win over Greensborough at War Memorial Reserve and will be looking for another big scalp.

Heatley said the weekly challenge was one of the great things about the NFL Division 1 competition.

“Hurstbridge were really resilient, they kept themselves within striking distance and we couldn’t quite break them,” he said.

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“Bailey Jordan was outstanding and Joel Naylor … they got some good supply but it gives us something to work on.

“I think that’s what’s exciting about our side, we’ve won a couple of games, which is nice, but we’ve got a hell of a lot to work on.

“Mont were very good, really solid around the footy, and we’re looking forward to it.

“Every week in this competition it’s a battle … we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, there’s still plenty to work on.”