The Bombers put in a spirited performance as they did battle with an almost full strength St Kilda line-up at the Dome in the semi-final of the NAB Cup tonight.

Scores see-sawed throughout the game but it was the Saints who were able to seal the match by three points with only seconds left on the clock.

Despite being disappointed by the final result, Matthew Knights was pleased with the Bomber’s continued efforts and believes they will be better for the experience.

“We played a fairly strong team in St Kilda and managed to play combat football for virtually the whole night with a young group which was really pleasing,” Knights said.

“I thought that we kept probing the opposition for the entire game and looking for opportunities right up until the final siren and that was a real positive for us.

“Also, the way our guys have adapted to the new game plan and direction has been really pleasing. Tonight they endeavoured to push hard and St Kilda put enormous pressure on us but our boys continued to try to probe openings and they worked hard. I guess it was just some of St Kilda’s experience late in the game really paid off.”

Early goals were hard to find with tackling pressure from both sides red hot. Leigh Montagna finally broke the drought at the six-minute mark of the quarter but the Bombers’ responded quickly through Scott Lucas’ left boot.

Stanton began racking up the possessions early, finishing the first term with nine, while Adam Ramanauskas, Mal Michael and Patrick Ryder looked impressive in defence. But despite Essendon’s unrelenting efforts to create an early lead, St Kilda side looked to hold a slight advantage over the Bombers and finished the quarter with a six-point lead.

The Saints held the Bombers accountable in the second term, posting a quick reply to any Essendon attempt to stretch their narrow lead. Jay Neagle did his father proud in his first appearance wearing the number one guernsey and looked impressive, kicking two goals for the Bombers.

Dean Dick was another youngster who put his mark on the game in the second term. With just seconds standing between him and the long break, Dick took it upon himself to give the Bombers some leeway heading into halftime by taking a strong mark and goaling to give Essendon a seven-point lead.

Courtenay Dempsey continued to emerge as an excitement machine in the third term, using his pace to drive the Bombers forward. However Essendon’s inability to convert opportunities really stung them and they needed more players to stand up if they were to break open the match.

Scores stood at 73 points apiece heading into the final term and the game was anyone’s for the taking. Patrick Ryder began to assert himself in the forward line and edged the Bombers back into the lead by putting an early goal on the board. His gallant efforts in front of the sticks looked to have lifted the momentum of the team and reinstilled the Bombers’ fight.

Courtney Johns goalled late in the final term and the game looked all but wrapped up, however the final accolades of the night were not to be Essendon’s. An unlucky holding the ball decision against Angus Monfries saw St Kilda kicked a goal with only seconds remaining on the clock, and put the game beyond the Bombers’ grasp to win by three points.

However, regardless of the final scoreline, Knights was again impressed by the strong performances of the kids this week and feels that they have really had an opportunity to grow throughout their time spent on the main stage.

“Jay Neagle got through the whole game and was able to kick four goals which was a real positive. He has been through a wretched time and hasn’t been able to play much football so to see him out there playing football was really exciting,"" he said.

“It was also good to get another game into Jarrod Atkinson, Cale Hooker, Rhys Magin and Dean Dick. They all had bits and pieces of excitement. A lot of those guys will obviously go back into the Bendigo line-up and start to play full games which will help their learning and development.”

Knights has labeled next week’s NAB Challenge match as a dress rehearsal ahead of Round 1 of the season proper and looks forward to bringing big guns Matthew Lloyd and Dustin Fletcher back into the side.

‘We will go out for almost a full dress rehearsal and it will allow us to play our best 22 that will be earmarked for Round 1. We have got a 16-day break between that game and between the Kangaroos game on the Monday.

“The key area that we really need to look at for next week is cleaning up our tackling. We probably didn’t control our aggression right while tackling and around the stoppages and we probably had too many free kicks against us. So we just have to zone in on that area to make sure that our tackling is more legal.”