After losing to Williamstown last week at QEO, Bendigo traveled to ABD Group stadium to take on the Richmond affiliated Coburg Tigers for their Round 8 clash.

The Bombers welcomed three time premiership player Mal Michael into their line-up that also included Essendon premiership player Adam Ramanauskas, but lost the experienced Jason Johnson.

The fifth placed Coburg Tigers needed a win to cement their spot in the top eight and came into the match as favorites against the 12^th placed Bombers which needed a win to keep their finals hopes alive.

Essendon star Ramanauskas started in the middle and his presence was felt early as he won the ball and sent the Bombers forward. The ball ended up in Tom Bellchambers hands and he delivered the first goal of the game. Bendigo then applied the pressure and managed to restrict Coburg’s early chances, Ramanauskas one of Bendigo’s best in the early stages of the game.

The Bombers came out the better team in the first 10 minutes but didn’t make the most of its opportunities and failed to take a big lead. After numerous attacks but no goal, Bendigo’s defence zoned out and a quick counter attack by the Tigers caught them off guard, ex Eagle, now Tiger, Mitch Morton registered a goal to hand his team the lead.

Shannon Geary and Grant Weekes missed chances to give the lead back to Bendigo. It wasn’t until Jason Laycock scored late in the quarter that Bendigo again hit the frontand carried a four point advantage into the first break.

Coburg struck early in the second quarter, Fortunato Caruso was the man that kicked the goal, but the Tigers could only watch on as Bendigo replied immediately through Laycock. Coburg snuck another goal before the Bombers registered the next four through Grant Weekes, Hayden Skipworth, James Bristow and Tom Bellchambers.

Bendigo had all the possession for the majority of the quarter but towards the end of the term Coburg started to work its way back into the contest and started to find free players. Two quick goals at the end of the quarter meant the Bendigo lead had only doubled to eight points at half-time.

Good pressure all over the ground by Bendigo was the main highlight of the first half and coach Adrian Hickmott would have been happy with the way his young team took it up to the Tigers.

The Bombers knew they had to continue applying pressure in the second half to ensure they finished the game strongly. They managed to score the first goal of the quarter through Tom Bellchambers after theyoung ruckmanbrilliantly pulled in a one handed grab.

Former Bomber Tristan Cartledge replied for Coburg almost instantly and they went on to pile on the next six goals to pull away from Bendigo which looked a bit shell shocked.

Bendigomissed must kick goals under pressure and the defence cracked under the offensive pressure supplied by the tough Coburg team. The Bombers weren’t out of the contest and if they regrouped and came out firing in the last quarter, would still be in with a shot at upsetting the Tigers. However, they had to try and stop the rampant Coburg forwards who scored eight goals to two to take a 25 point lead into thelast quarter.

In the final quarter, Bendigo got off to a slow start, Hayden Skipworth gave away a 50 metre penalty and the resulting Coburg goal enabled the Tigers to extend its lead. The Bombers kept running hard and two quick goals to Simon Davies and Jason Laycock meant the lead had been cut to 18.

Laycock’s goal was Bendigo’s best for the game, a tough shot 40 metres out on the boundary. This was thefinal highlight of the game for Bendigo asthe Tigers piled on seven last quarter goals to ensure they came out with all the points.

Greg Tivendale managed to grab five goals for Coburg while the leading scorers for Bendigo were Tom Bellchambers and Jason Laycock with three each.

The 51 point margin doesn’t tell the full story, Bendigo were right in the game until another last quarter fade.

The Bombers are showing some good signs andits nextwin issurely just around the corner. With the opportunity to regroup with the bye next week (due to the VFL vs. SANFL), the Bombers would be looking to beat the Box Hill Hawks who are sitting on the bottom of the ladder, winless after eight rounds.

Bendigo reserves

The Bendigo reserves took on the Coburg reserves in their Round6 clash.

Coburg, currently sitting on top of the ladder, was looking to extend their undefeated run against the Bombers who were still searching for their first win. A morale destroying 162 point loss to Williamstown last week meant Bendigo sat rock bottom.

The game started off slowly with the ball locked in the middle and it took a good goal by Glen Carrick to break the ice.

Coburg dominated the first quarter, outscoring Bendigo six goals to two and it looked as though the Bombers were in for a long day. A spirited Bendigo fight back in the second quarter lead by Michael Pilcher in the ruck, meant Bendigo shaved a goal off Coburg’s quarter time lead to trail by 27 points at the main break.

However a completely dominant second half display by Coburg meant they ran all over the hapless Bombers. Coburg piled on 30 goals to Bendigo’s seven to run out 167 point winners that insured their winning run continued.