Bendigo Gold news

The possible return to the Essendon senior side of Ramanauskas has been a talking point this week, but the man himself is content to bide his time in the VFL with Bendigo.

Ramanauskas has made an inspirational return to football this year as an Essendon rookie after enduring a recurrence of cancer in his neck and a serious knee injury in the past two years.

The 26-year-old member of Essendon's 2000 premiership side has played five games with Bendigo this season, and is relishing the chance to just be back out on the football field, even if it's at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, rather than the MCG or Telstra Dome.

'‘It's just enjoyable playing footy again, to be honest," Ramanauskas told The Advertiser yesterday.

‘‘Things are going along okay; I'm just trying to do my part and not let down the younger fellows.

‘‘Being one of the older guys, I have to show a bit of experience out there and try to help them out as much as I can.

‘‘At the same time, I'm competitive like everyone else and I want to win.

After trailing by five points at the midway mark of the third quarter, Bendigo dominated from there on.

The hundreds of fans at the traditional Queen's Birthday holiday weekend clash included Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd.

On-field it was a spin out of a tackle by Bendigo captain Simon Rosa to snap a right-foot goal at the 17-minute mark of the third term that put the red and black back in front.

In a matter of minutes the lead was 21 points after Grant Weeks was on the end of a Chris Heffernan pass, Kepler Bradley was free in a marking contest.

A crucial target in the Bombers' attack, Bradley then passed to an unguarded Kyle Reimers in the goalsquare to complete the hat-trick of goals.

The Bombers' turnaround could be attributed to many factors, but one of the most telling was Lachlan McKinnon's tap-outs at the centre bounces.

Bombers' team-mates Ricky Dyson, Heffernan, Jay Nash, Sam Lonergan and Adam Ramanauskas continually put the ball inside the 50 m arc.

When Box Hill did go forward they often found Courtney Johns, Andrew Lee and Richard Cole in the way.

IT has taken almost half-a-season, but Metricon Bendigo Bombers coach Matthew Knights is now starting to feel a real sense of unity and cohesion within his team.

After a frustrating start to the season when the Bombers won just one of their first six games, Bendigo has now strung two victories together on the trot.

The Bombers will chase their third win in succession today when they host the Box Hill Hawks at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in what is now their traditional Queen's Birthday match.

Should Bendigo beat the Hawks, the Bombers can move to as high as sixth on the ladder after nine rounds.

"If we play to the same level in regards to our structures and the way we took the game on against Coburg last week, we're confident we will do well," Knights said.

"The boys have got a taste or it now, and probably the best thing that has happened over the past month is we have balanced our side out.

"Simon Rosa, James Flaherty and Courtney Johns have now played three or four weeks together down back.

With Jason Cloke kicking four goals, the Bombers belied their ladder position - Coburg had won six straight and was six rungs higher than the ninth-placed Bombers before yesterday's game.

With Richmond emergencies Chris Hyde (beaten by Cloke) and Jack Riewoldt (two goals) having quiet afternoons, Bendigo again showed it was an improving outfit in its 19.10 (124) to 10.12 (72) triumph, coming on the back of a strong win at Frankston in the previous round.

The Bombers led by only 20 points at halftime but cleared out in the second half, kicking 4.1 to 0.5 in the third term and six goals to four in the last.

BENDIGO ended Coburg's unbeaten five-match run, hammering the Tigers by 52 points in their first home match since August last season.

The Bombers clearly relished the return to their home turf at Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo, after drought conditions forced the transfer of their previous home fixtures to Windy Hill.

Coburg kicked the first three goals and looked set to shoot as high as second on the ladder with another strong win on the road.

But after Bendigo wrested back control in a tight first half, it destroyed the Tigers in the second half, kicking 10 goals to four, with Kepler Bradley (12 marks and two goals) providing a focal point, while Courtney Johns played another exceptional game in his experiment at the centre half-back.