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The young Bombers looked on their way to a semi-final next weekend after they led the Roosters by 59 points in the fifth minute of the third term at TEAC Oval.

However, the Roosters completed mission impossible, kicking 17 of the last 19 goals of the game in the space of an hour to win 21.22 (148) to 16.15 (111).

It will be remembered as one of the greatest comebacks in VFL history as the Roosters took advantage of injuries to key Bombers players in the second half.

"In that last 40 to 50 minutes of the game we were just out on our feet," Bombers coach Matthew Knights said on Saturday night.

"We had spent everything, but I thought we put everything on the line and had a real crack at winning the game."

The Bombers, who scraped into the finals in eighth spot, went into the game against their country rivals as rank underdogs as they fielded their most inexperienced side of the season.

The Bombers had nine Bendigo-listed players lining up in their first VFL final, but you wouldn't have known it the way they dominated the first half.

Bendigo conceded the first goal of the game to the Roosters, with Brett Goodes putting the first major on the board at the five-minute mark.

But the Bombers broke the game open in the last 20 minutes of the quarter as they piled on 7.3 to just four behinds to go into quarter-time leading by 34 points.

The first term was a tale of missed opportunities for the Roosters, while the Bombers capitalised up forward.

Such was the efficiency of Bendigo, it had just one more inside 50 (15-14) than the Roosters and only 10 more disposals, yet was more than five goals ahead.

The Bombers continued to hold sway in the second term as the likes of the fiery Mark Johnson, whose work in the centre square was outstanding, defenders Heath Hocking, captain Simon Rosa and Danny Chartres were on top.