Big man Tom Bellchambers has made a successful return from ankle surgery in Essendon’s 28 point VFL Good Friday win against Bendigo at Queen Elizabeth Oval.

Bellchambers played the majority of the game in his first match of 2014 and looked to move freely around the ground before resting up forward.

It was a strong second half performance that saw the Bombers get over the line against a gallant Bendigo side after they led by as much as 21 points at one stage of the game before the Bombers piled on the goals after half time.

Assistant coach James Byrne said the return of Bellchambers was a pleasing sign.

“Tom was on limits throughout the match, we tried to stretch it out and playing full forward, he’s not running as much,” Byrne said.

“It’s good just to have him back. He takes the best defender and is a team-oriented player.”

Byrne said it was a frustrating first half but was good to see the players respond in the second half

“We thought in the first half that our contested work and ball movement was a little bit boring,”

“We weren’t really driving the ball off the half-back line and burrowing in, so Hayden (Skipworth) addressed that at half time and the players responded well.”

VFL listed player Alistair Kefford was the stand-out down forward in the win, kicking four goals and taking a number of strong contested marks.

“Alistair was getting in the right spots in the first half and the ball just wasn’t getting to him,” he said.

“It’s a credit to him that he kept finding his way into good positions and reaped the rewards with four goals.”

The Bombers now go 2-1 heading into Collingwood next week at Windy Hill and Byrne said that the team would continue to focus on playing the Essendon way.

“We’re going to keep trying to work on what we’re working on, trying to focus on improving our game, but we’re just aiming to play the way that we, as coaches, are teaching the players.”

Final Score:
Essendon 11.26.91

Bendigo 9.9.63

Goals: Kefford 4, Mellington 2, Duscher, Coghlan, Rayner, Bellchambers, Pears

Best: Bellchambers, Kefford, Tipungwuti, Coghlan, Heppell, Z.Merrett