BENDIGO BOMBERS v. SPRINGVALE

BENDIGO:

SPRINGVALE:

BENDIGO:

SPRINGVALE:

Coming off a close loss to North Ballarat last week, the Bombers were keen to make the most of their opportunity to play a depleted Springvale side, which has yet to win a match. In a team effort the Bombers were able to lead from start to finish as they very quickly took the game away from Springvale, by winning every quarter. The team effort had showed supporters that the troubles of last year’s merger was far beyond them and in the end the Bombers went away to a 20.15 (135) to 8.10 (58) thrashing of the St Kilda aligned Springvale.

Having rained for part of the day it was a cold night, with a reasonable crowd coming out to watch the Bombers play at home. Bendigo started off dominant with coach Peter Banfield choosing to play both big-men Guy Campbell and Jobe Watson in the centre, which turned out to be a troublesome duo for the Scorpions. Whilst Springvale ruckman Barry Brooks had a lot of the ball, he was not able to match the interchange between Campbell and Watson, which resulted in the ball rarely leaving the Bombers forward 50m. Up forward Andrew Lovett began to cause trouble for Springvale with two quick goals as Jason Winderlich and Damian Cupido kicked one each. Unfortunately for the Bombers Damian Cupido gave away an unnecessary free kick and 50m penalty which resulted in him being dragged from the ground and John Kosch kicking the only goal for Springvale, in a Scorpion forward line that failed to create any possession. The Bombers left the first quarter 20 points up and full of confidence.

With an impressive start to the match, the Bombers were desperate to not let the chance of a win slip away and went out hard at the football. Cupido gave away another unnecessary free kick in an off-ball incident, but was able to work hard in passages throughout the mid-field and forward-line. The Bombers began to kick longer and reached targets including Jason Laycock and Peter Summers who both kicked goals from strong marks. Most impressive from the first and second quarters was Andrew Lovett who kicked three goals in the second term to have five before half-time. Towards the end of the quarter, Springvale slowly edged there way back with help from the Bombers who gave away a further two more 50m penalties for unnecessary tackling. As Springvale was able to get more possessions in the centre, Coach Banfield responded by placing Laycock in the ruck and moving Gary Moorcroft onto the ball, which helped the Bombers win back control of the centre. Captain Nick Carter also started to get plenty of possession as the game went on, leaving the Bombers 35 points up at the half time break.

Bendigo came out of half time the same way they went in, pumped and ready to finish off a dismal Springvale Scorpions side. Springvale began to attack early but was unable to hit any targets, including key recruit for St-Kilda Raphael Clarke, who had no influence on the game. Much of the reason they were unable to hit key forward targets was because of the work done by Jordan Doering and Tim Richards in the backline, who were able to take important contested marks and run the ball into the forward line. After taking a very courageous mark on the wing Doering was able to run on and kick a goal, which resulted in a spur of quick goals to the Bombers. Springvale was unable to match the Bombers with players such as Adrian Wilson, Peter Summers (versatile both forward and in defence), Jobe Watson, Ted Richards and Jordan Doering gathered plenty of the ball. Like the first and second term the Bombers gave away another unnecessary 50m penalty, but was one of very few negatives out of the term. Captain Nick Carter continued to show reason to why he leads this team, gathering plenty of possessions around the ball, and key forwards Luke Hawkins and Jason Winderlich both snagged goals. As the Bendigo Structure was obviously dominant, they were able to easily push the ball from defence into the forward line and managed to outscore Springvale and go into the final break 51 points up.

The Final quarter was much of a white wash as the previous three had been, with Bendigo managing to keep Springvale goalless. The main reason for the goalless quarter was much to the honour of the defensive half who led by Jordan Doering played a practically flawless game. Bomber pair of Moorcroft and Cupido continued their physical class with Scorpion Barry Parson’s, but were to good as Moorcroft showed glimpses of class and Cupido slotted another goal. Captain Nick Carter and Jobe Watson continued to gain plenty of the ball as did bigman Guy Campbell. Unable to finish off on many attempts the Bombers entered there forward 50m many times and managed to snare a few goals including Lovett for his sixth and James Davies for his first. Eventually the final siren blew and the Bombers recorded a massive win infront of an impressed home crowd coming out 77-point victors.

It would be hard to leave out any players from the best of the Bombers in Friday night’s game, as it truly was a team effort. Coach Peter Banfield was happy to be back on the winners list in a team he truly believes is a finals contender, “Having come off a five day break, it was a good win for us” He said.

Next week the Bombers travel to Hobart where they will be play a Tasmanian side full of surprises, but with two wins from three games the Bombers have a very good chance to leave with the all important premiership points.

By Matthew Roberts @ Lead On