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BENDIGO’S poor recent VFL record at the Queen Elizabeth Oval continued on Saturday when the Gold was beaten by Sandringham.
Bendigo has now lost its past eight games at the QEO after the Zebras won by 11 points, 14.11 (95) to 12.12 (84), in a victory set up by dominant second and third quarters.
The Gold trailed by 29 points at three quarter-time, but looked like pulling off an unlikely victory when 16 minutes into the final term they cut the Zebras’ advantage to five points after kicking the first four goals.
But the Gold couldn’t edge their way in front as the Zebras steadied, with back-to-back goals to St Kilda-listed duo Dean Polo and Brett Peake ensuring Sandringham held on for the victory.
“The last quarter opened up for us and we were able to get some ball movement going and get on the scoreboard,” Gold coach Hayden Skipworth said.
“But before that it had been hard to score for us.”
The game started well for Bendigo when it kicked the opening two goals of the match through key forward Matt Little and impressive wingman Elliott Kavanagh inside the first seven minutes.
But the remainder of the first half was dominated by Sandringham.
By quarter-time the Zebras had drawn level at 2.3 apiece, before they controlled the second quarter when Bendigo played one of its worst 30 minutes for the season.
The Zebras beat the Gold out of the centre (5-2), smashed them around the stoppages (12-2) and dominated possession in the second quarter when they added 5.2 to 1.4 to build a 22-point lead at half-time, 7.5 to 2.7.
The Zebras constantly forced the Gold into turnovers and over-use of the ball in the second quarter as their pressure around the contest and intensity lifted, with Raph Clarke across half-back and midfielder Marcus Marigliani leading the way.
It didn’t get any better early in the third quarter when the Zebras kicked four of the first five goals – including two to Marigliani – to blow the lead out to a game-high 39 points.
However, the Gold rallied and with goals to ruckman Dean Putt and Little (two), they gave themselves some hope when the deficit was reduced to less than five goals by three quarter-time.
Whereas the previous week against Casey the Gold were overrun in the last quarter, this time Bendigo was at its best in the final term.
With a lift in the midfield and their defensive press locking the ball inside 50, the Gold had all the momentum when Nick O’Brien, Justin Maddern and Matt Little (two) kicked consecutive goals to bring Bendigo within five points, but that was where the surge ended as the Zebras responded with the goals to Polo and Peake.
The loss was Bendigo’s second in a row, leaving the Gold now with an 8-6 record.
“It’s a disappointing result, but we can’t dwell on it too much. We’ve got to move on and keep trying to win enough games to make finals,” Skipworth said.
“We left ourselves too much work to do in the last quarter.
“If we had have been in touch a bit more at three quarter-time we could have given it a real shake, but from where we were, we needed everything to go right.”
The polished Kavanagh – Essendon’s first pick at last year’s national draft – was the Gold’s best player as he battled hard all game on the wing.
The Gold were also pleased with the performance of Tayte Pears in defence.
“That was probably the best game Tayte has played for us this year,” Skipworth said.
“He marked the ball well and took the game on, while first-year player Elliott Kavanagh was our other standout.”
Rick Ladson – who copped two heavy knocks in the space of three minutes during the second term – was also a standout across half-back and was pivotal in the last-quarter revival.
Up forward Little continued his good form, kicking six goals – one in the first quarter, one in the second, two in the third and two in the last.
Little – who also took nine marks – now has 45 goals for the season.
Maddern, the only player based in Bendigo in Saturday’s team, also could have finished with a bag of goals, but his kicking was astray.
From his first seven shots at goal Maddern missed them all and put one out on the full, before finishing with 1.6 from eight marks.
Bendigo lost Essendon veteran Mark McVeigh in the first quarter after his back tightened up.
With two losses in a row, it doesn’t get any easier for the Gold this Saturday with a 10am game against fourth-placed Geelong at Simonds Stadium.
? Match statistics:
Centre clearances: Sandringham 14; Bendigo 16.
Inside 50s: Sandringham 45; Bendigo 45.
Stoppages: Sandringham 27; Bendigo 21.