It was the one that got away for the Bendigo Bombers today, going down to the Box Hill Hawks by a single point at the Box Hill City Oval. Despite leading by 22 points at half time, the Hawks dominated the third quarter to run out the stronger side and secure the victory.

The Bombers fought back gallantly in the fourth quarter after trailing at the final break to narrowly hit the lead with ten minutes remaining. But Box Hill added two behinds for a one point lead late in the game and despite a number of forward attacks, Bendigo was unable to score in the final five minutes to claw back the deficit.  

Sam Lonergan was a standout player for Bendigo picking up 18 disposals, nine tackles and kicking four goals, while Matthew Firman showed class also with 25 touches, one goal and laid seven important tackles.  

Tristan Cartledge played a solid game in the ruck finishing with 18 disposals and with injury clouds over Patrick Ryder and Jason Laycock he may come into the eye of selectors this week to bolster the big man stocks for Essendon.

It is the second week in a row Bendigo has suffered a nail biting loss after narrowly going down to Frankston by five points last Sunday. The Bombers now have next week off with the split round in the VFL to settle for the second half of the season.    

Bendigo statistics

J. Doering 22 kicks, 4 handballs, 2 marks

M Firman 13, 12, 3

S Rosa 14, 7, 1

T Cartledge 8, 10, 6

S Longeran 16, 2, 5

N Carter 13, 4, 5

H Hocking 9, 7, 16

L Marsh 11, 5, 6

B Childs 9, 6, 2

A Connaughton 7, 8, 6

B Jolley 9, 6, 1

S Richardson 10, 5, 3

J Bowe, 9, 5, 2

A Lee 10, 3, 6

C Beasy 8, 4, 2

A Lucy 4, 7, 2

G Bowles 5, 5, 3

J Blumfield 5, 4, 2

K Pendlebury 4, 2, 4

T O’Keefe 2, 2, 0

J Neagle 1, 1, 2