There's nothing Bendigo's premier rugby club embraces more than a comeback - that's why they call themselves the Fighting Miners.
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On Saturday the Miners staged a hard-fought comeback to runaway with the round 10 Rugby Victoria premiership reserves game with a win over the Brimbank Bucks, final result 37-27.
Miners opened the scoreboard contributions around three minutes into the game at Bon Thomas Reserve with a converted try but were immediately challenged by the Bucks who scored two tries to secure a 12-7 lead after just 20 minutes.
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Miners swiftly responded with a converted try and two penalty goals to take a 20-12 lead into the main break.
The lead was then extended even further early in the second half with a try from Usaia Duguci.
However, Brimbank weren't ready to go down without a challenge and made strategic use of the wind to control field position while the Miners struggled to get out of their quarter.
Three tries from the Bucks saw them regain the lead 27-25, but the Miners buckled down to score two more tries to take out the game.
Miners coach Paula Maka was thrilled with his team's "underdog brilliance" that helped secure the hard-fought win.
"The backs and the forwards played in sync focusing on their game plan," he said.
"The forwards lead the attack with excruciating head on runs. With help, the backs were in form in attack and made metres mostly in the centre."
Maka praised the team for their immense effort and paid respect to Martin Maiai who played his final game as a Miner.
The Miners will take the winning confidence into training this Tuesday as they prepare for next week's home match against Maroondah at Epsom Huntly Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
Ladder
- Cerberus 7-1
- Shepparton 6-1-0
- Maroondah 5-0-2
- Brimbank 5-0-2
- Ballarat 3-0-4
- Bendigo 2-0-5
- Monash 3-0-5
- Northern 2-1-6
- Melbourne 0-0-8
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