Confidence gained from last Saturday’s second half against North Melbourne will be taken into Sunday’s clash with St Kilda according to defender Matt Dea.
After a goal-less first half, the Bombers turned it around in the second half kicking eight goals to two to lose by just 14 points to the ladder-leading Kangaroos.
“The first half was pretty disappointing, I thought the effort was there but we just couldn’t translate onto the scoreboard,” Dea said.
“We just had to clean up our ball coming out of defensive 50; once we got that underway we could give our forwards a chance.
“To turn it around in the second half and to put some score on the board was great. It was a good way to finish leading into this week.”
Dea has played every game this season averaging 16.1 disposals and had 19 touches, eight marks, six rebound 50’s against the Kangaroos.
The former Tiger was one of 12 players in their first season with the Bombers to take the field on Saturday.
“Woosha said at the start of the year it was always going to take a bit of time to get some chemistry and that is showing to be the case,” he said.
“The more games we play together the better we will be and hopefully towards the end of the year we can get some more wins on the board.
“Just knowing that we can move the ball pretty well and we can score against good opposition is great. North are a great opposition and Saints will be pretty tough this week as well.”
The Bombers will look for their second win of the season when they take on St Kilda on Sunday at Etihad Stadium from 4.40pm.
The Saints are coming off a trip to Perth and a 103-point loss to West Coast on Sunday.
“They (St Kilda) will be looking to rectify their performance from last week and that’s just another challenge for us, we have been faced with challenges all year and we are meeting them head on,” Dea said.
“The boys are pumped. Taking the last half of last week into this week is good for us.”
The second half performance against the Kangaroos drew strong applause from the Bomber faithful producing some of the season’s most memorable footage.
“I thought we’d won – I had to check the scoreboard,” Dea said.
“The fans support can’t be questioned. In round two we got the win against Melbourne and it was a great feeling but the weekend was just as good.”
