The result was irrelevant in the eyes of many with Essendon supporters thrilled to be at Windy Hill to watch Ramanauskas play his first game of competitive football for more than two years.
The 2500 people in attendance gave Ramanauskas a stirring ovation as he ran into the ground with the Bendigo side shortly before 2pm. He started on the bench but came onto the ground 14 minutes into the first quarter and he quickly had his first touch – a mark in the back pocket followed by his trademark left foot that hit a target.
Ramananauskas finished with 12 possessions and was his usual cool self when the pressure went on late in the game. He also laid four tackles in what was a very encouraging return given the amount of time he has spent of the sidelines.
Bendigo struggled to stay in touch with Sandringham for much of the day and when they trailed by 18 points deep in the last quarter, the match appeared over. But Bendigo put the foot down and kicked four goals in five minutes to lead by six points in the dying minutes of the game.
However Sandringham steadied late in the game and a free kick to full forward Nick Sautner in the goal-square put the result beyond doubt.
There were some encouraging signs for Essendon with a number of young players playing some good football. Scott Gumbelton again impressed kicking four goals and capping his performance with a spectacular mark in the goal square. Tom Hislop and Bachar Houli were both good as was Jason Johnson.
Click here to see the photo gallery of the match
