After three rounds on the road (including one at Windy Hill), the Bendigo Bombers were finally able to show off their skills in front of their home crowd at the QEO.

Bendigo was hoping to beat the in-form Casey Scorpions who had won theirprevious two games against Frankston and Box Hill. The Bombers, however, had lost their last two against North Ballarat and Werribee, after beating Tasmania in the first round.

Bendigo boy, Jarryn Geary, who was drafted by St Kilda at the end of last season returned to his hometown with the Scorpions, who also had St Kilda stars Raphael Clarke and Adam Fiora on their team sheet. Bendigo welcomed Essendon star Damien Peverill into its line-up that also included Jason Johnson and Jay Neagle.

Warm conditions greeted the players as they ran out onto the ground for their round four clash. Casey got off to a great start registering the first goal of the game through Brad Howard not long after the centre bounce.

Bendigo didn’t let the early goal faze them, immediately replying through exciting young player David Myers after Stewart Crameri won a free kick for his good tackle. Darcy Daniher kicked his first goal to thrust the Bombers into an early lead. After such a promising start Casey grabbed the upper hand kicking the next three through Andrew McQualter, Shane Birss and Jarryd Allen who, along with McQualter, would be the focal point up forward for Casey.

Courtney Johns was playing well for Bendigo in defence and his pressure in the backline paid off on the scoreboard with John Williams scoring after Johns intercepted a Casey pass. The Scorpions’ accurate kicking ensured they carried a lead into the first break, registering six goals straight to put them ahead by 16 points.

Casey came out hard in the second quarter and Andrew McQualter’s good form continued as he scored the first goal of the term to extend his team’s lead to 22.

Things started to look very worrying for Bendigo as Shane Birss and McQualter started pulling in the possessions and the Scorpions piled on the pressure to choke Bendigo. However, they couldn’t make this pressure pay on the scoreboard and against the run of play Johnny Coghlan scored to punish Casey.

Jack Steven scored for the Scorpions before Bendigo kicked two goals through Daniher and Cale Hooker to stay in the hunt. Casey managed to grab a goal just before half time siren to extend their lead to 19 points, though it could have been more considering they outplayed the Bombers for most of the quarter.

Bendigo started stronger then its opponent in the second half, Daniher kicked his third of the match to cut Casey’s lead and give Bendigo the chance to work their way back into the match. Then Bombers let all their hard work go to waste. After captain James Flaherty rushed a behind to stop a certain goal for Casey, the resulting kick-in landed in the hands of Jarryd Allen who scored his second goal to upset Bendigo. Goals were traded, Andrew McQualter, Damien Peverill and Allen all grabbed majors before Bendigo scored three unanswered goals to shave Casey’s lead to 16 points.

Allen, Casey’s best player in the quarter, scored his third of the quarter to stop Bendigo’s scoring run. Jason Johnson and Jarrod Atkinson were two of Bendigo’s better players in a quarter that wasn’t really dominated by either team.

Both teams kicked five goals but the Scorpions held the ascendancy heading into the final quarter, leading by 22 points.

After conceding the first two goals things looked worrying for Bendigo, however, they managed to get three goals in a row through Brent Hartigan, Josh Bowe and Jarrod Atkinson. The comeback failed to gather momentum and Casey piled on the last four goals of the game to end the contest.

Chris Dunne was by far the best player in the final quarter kicking three goals to finish off the Bombers, though none of his goals beat James Gwilt who kicked the goal of the game, a 75 metre bomb from inside the centre square. The heat played a factor in the loss, Casey appeared fitter than Bendigo and were able to run the game out stronger when the thermometer reached the high 20’s.

Jarryd Allen finished a strong game with six goals, while Andrew McQualter and Shane Birss were among Casey’s best.