The Bendigo Bombers felt the pain of losing again on the weekend, this time going down to the Sandringham Zebras by 19 points in the tough clash at Windy Hill.

 

Bendigo who is yet to find their first win of the season, entered the Round 16 clash stocked with plenty of younger Essendon players including David Zaharakis, Tyson Slattery and Tom German.

 

A slow start by the Bombers saw the Zebras get the first two goals to take an early lead; however, Shane Page and Rhys Magin managed to grab goals to keep the Bombers in the hunt.

 

ANZAC Day hero David Zaharakis was one of the best in the opening term, winning plenty of the ball in the midfield and continuously rebounding from the defensive 50.

 

Halfway through the quarter, Bendigo stepped it up a notch and started to apply heavy pressure all over the ground. This was highlighted by Jarrod Atkinson who cleared the ball out of defence, then laid a great tackle to halt the Zebras’ attack.

 

As the siren sounded to end the first quarter the Bombers trailed by just three points.

 

Another slow start to the second quarter meant Sandringham was able to score the first two goals of the quarter. The Zebras had plenty of the ball and used it efficiently to create a number of scoring opportunities.

 

Bendigo’s only goal of the quarter came as a result of the good teamwork between Essendon players Atkinson, Jay Nash, Michael Quinn and Magin who ended the play by slotting the ball through for a major.

 

The Bombers should have had more goals as they had plenty of chances however the scoreboard showed six behinds for the quarter, which was a poor result. David Myers and Leroy Jetta were the major ball winners in the first half, recording 13 disposals each, while Slattery and Atkinson had 11 each.

 

Sandringham lead Bendigo by 25-points at half time.

 

Sandringham’s Nick Heyne caused Bendigo problems in the third term with three goals, while up the other end Page, Bristow and Darcy Richards were the Bombers’ only goal scorers.

 

Atkinson, Jetta, German and Myers all had a good quarter. Myers, in particular, dominated in the midfield but overall the Bombers' intensity and tackling pressure dropped off.

 

Heyne’s goal after the siren pushed the Zebras’ lead out to 30 points heading into the final quarter.

 

Considering the Bombers have faded in most of their final quarters this season, Sandringham was the hot favourite to run away with the game but Bendigo refused to go without a fight.

 

The Bombers outscored the Zebras five goals to three in the final quarter to cut the deficit from 30 points to 19. Chris Thomson, Lachlan Delahunty, Blair Holmes, Tom Bellchambers and Bryce Carroll all registered majors in an impressive final quarter effort.

 

Bendigo controlled the play for the quarter and used the ball well but two late Sandringham goals ended the contest; one of these was a result of Atkinson slipping over.

 

The final scores were Bendigo 12.8 (80) defeated by Sandringham 14.15 (99).

 

Myers ended the game with 27 touches to again be among the best, further boosting his case for a senior recall.

 

He played on the ball for most of the day, proving to be handy for the Bombers around the stoppages and providing plenty of run through the middle.

 

Jetta (25 possessions) and Atkinson (24) combined well to have plenty of run across half back, Tom Bellchambers had another solid day in the ruck and Zaharakis (16) also found plenty of the ball.

 

Best on ground went to Page who was promoted from Bendigo’s TAC Cup team the Pioneers. He seems to be a promising young player who may feature in this year’s draft.