THERE'S no surprise that next Sunday's BBD weekend pennant grand final will feature powerhouses Bendigo East and Eaglehawk.

But what is a major surprise was just how hard Eaglehawk had to fight to win Saturday's preliminary final against a gallant Bendigo to earn a shot at back-to-back flags against the Beasties.

In what was billed as a David v Goliath battle given Bendigo had barely given a yelp in its two home and away meetings against the Hawks, the BBD was treated to yet another gripping preliminary final showdown.

Such has been the commanding style in which they have dominated the competition, anything other than a Bendigo East v Eaglehawk grand final has seemed unthinkable for much of the season.

READ MORE - No fears of complacency for Eaglehawk against Bendigo

But with two ends to go on Saturday there was every chance Bendigo could inflict a massive upset on the Hawks, such was the momentum it built late in the contest at Kangaroo Flat.

The game appeared to be going to script when Eaglehawk raced to a 55-32 lead at the tea break and at that stage there was nothing to suggest the Hawks wouldn't need to get out of cruise control to simply coast into another grand final.

However, Bendigo showed tremendous fighting spirit and wouldn't lay down to the extent that with two ends left, the Hawks' once comfortable lead had been trimmed back to just two shots.

But Bendigo couldn't land the three shots it needed to pull off what would have been a remarkable victory.

The Hawks' Brayden Byrne picked up one shot on his final end against Mitch Hocking.

And when the Hawks' rink of Dean Carter scored two on its final end against Torie Babitsch, it was enough to hand Eaglehawk a 96-91 victory and a grand final berth.

"We knew at smoko when we were 23 up that Bendigo was always going to come back hard at us… but they came back a lot harder than we thought," Carter said.

Carter won his rink 31-20 over Babitsch to be the Hawks' only winning skipper.

The match featured a 21-all tie between the Hawks' Simon Carter and Bendigo's Lawrence Brooks, who fought back from a double-digit deficit to split the rink.

Bendigo's Andrew Brown recovered from a 12-shot margin at one stage to score a gutsy 26-25 win over the star Hawks' rink skippered by Darren Burgess.

And Bendigo's Hocking won his battle with Byrne 24-19.

"Being 30-plus down and then getting to within two with two ends to play showed what we have tried to demonstrate all year… effort, character, heart and most importantly, teamwork," Bendigo's Brown said after the heartbreaking loss.

The past five BBD preliminary finals have been decided by margins of five, two, three, six and one shot.

Eaglehawk 13-93 d Bendigo 5-91.

Darren Burgess 25 lt Andrew Brown 26; Dean Carter 31 d Torie Babitsch 20; Brayden Byrne 19 lt Mitch Hocking 24; Simon Carter 21 dr Lawrence Brooks 21.

Grand final - Bendigo East v Eaglehawk.

South Bendigo 16-95 d Marong 2-94.

Ray McCumber 27 d Mark Dickins 22; Arthur Kendall 26 d John Jennings 19; John Dixon 16 lt Darren Marshall 28; Leslie Wilkinson 26 d Paul Mylon 25.

Grand final - Eaglehawk v South Bendigo.

Harcourt 16-89 d Golden Square 2-83.

Gary Maddern 12 lt Jeffrey Frost 31; Leo Maloney 28 d Peter Bush 16; Tony Olsson 27 d George Cronk 19; Danny Pettingill 22 d Douglas Condon 17.

Grand final - Bendigo East v Harcourt.

Woodbury 16-93 d Eaglehawk 2-84.

Heather Cozens 20 lt Barry Brackley 21; Leonard Handley 25 d Keith Barnes 20; Graeme Poulton 24 d Craig Evans 23; Danny Tuck 24 d Gilbert Pickering 20.

Grand final - Strathfieldsaye v Woodbury.

Dingee 16-106 d White Hills 2-87.

John Jackman 26 d Judy McCurry 21; Neil Lister 36 d Trevor Lamb 18; Des Fiedler 27 d William McCurdy 20; Ron Thompson 17 lt Ivan McCarry 28.

Grand final - Marong v Dingee.

Eaglehawk 14-98 d Kangaroo Flat 4-93.

Max Volk 22 lt Barry Duncan 26; Kevin White 25 d David Martin 19; Max Hatters 30 d Ron Tonkin 20; Frank Lynch 21 lt Ivan Vogele 28.

Grand final - Campbells Creek v Eaglehawk.

Marong 15-80 d White Hills 3-57.

Bob Williams 17 lt Luigi Basile 32; Robert Kelly 33 d Elaine Hood 9; John Tate 30 d Glenda Jones 16.

Grand final - Bendigo VRI v Marong.

Campbells Creek 16-53 d Marong 2-40.

Colin Bull 24 d Donald Penfold 15, Ray Mason 29 d Neville Hill 25.

Grand final - Strathfieldsaye v Campbells Creek.

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