While the Bendigo Bombers didn’t walk away with the win against the Sandringham on Saturday afternoon, it was an encouraging display from the Bombers at the Trevor Barker Oval. Going into the match as underdogs, Bendigo was within two goals early in the final quarter, before the Zebras showed their class to pull away and win by 29-points.

But with Essendon having the weekend off, the game provided the opportunity for a number of senior players to gain match fitness and form to take into the second half of the season.

Scott Camporeale was a standout player with 39 disposals as he lead the midfield of Sam Lonergan, Ben Jolley and Ricky Dyson. The brigade won a lot of the football out of the centre but the Bombers lacked a focal target up forward, despite having twelve individual goal kickers for the afternoon.

Andrew Lee continued his good form and fight for senior selection after again holding the Bendigo back line together while Richard Cole also showed promising signs after returning from a hamstring injury. 

Bendigo statistics

S Camporeale 26 kicks, 13 handballs, 6 marks

B Jolley 11, 23, 5

R Dyson 19, 14, 2

S Lonergan 16, 10, 6 

J Doering 14, 11, 6

J Nash 14, 10, 3

S Rosa 5, 14, 2

A Lovett 10, 8, 4

N Carter 8, 9, 4

T Cartledge 5, 9, 3

R Cole 4, 10, 1

J Blumfield 4, 9, 4

A Lucy 5, 8, 1

M Firman 5, 7, 1

C Dempsey 5, 5, 1

A Lee 7, 3, 6

P Ryder 6, 4, 4

M Vigus 3, 6, 1

C Beasy 5, 0, 1

A Connaughton 1, 4, 1

T O’Keefe 3, 2, 0

S Richardson 3, 0, 0