Footscray Edgewater and Ringwood are locked in a tantalising Premier Cricket battle at Merv Hughes Oval.
The finals contenders each had their moments on day one but went to stumps nearly inseparable.
Ringwood was in all sorts of trouble at 7-131 before Brendan Walsh (54no) and Jackson Freeman (31) led a recovery, the visitors finishing with 229.
The Rams’ day got a little better before stumps when Bulldogs opener Ben Green was removed for a duck in his 100th game.
It will be viewed as a minor hiccup for the Dogs, who finished the day 1-0.
Earlier, the Bulldogs had it their own way after leg-spinner Jeremy Hart left a trail of destruction through the Rams’ batting line-up.
Hart, a new recruit from Geelong, finished with 6-82 off 22 overs to take his season wicket tally to 21 at an average of 15.4.
Another former Cat, Jack Sheppard, was on song in taking 2-27 off 17.3. His new ball partner, Hamish Winter-Irving, returned 1-41 off 20.
Bulldogs captain Dean Russ and English import Dan Hodgson will be hoping to kick-start the run chase from 11am on Saturday.
