After nine rounds, the Geelong VFL side remain the only side in the competition without a win after going down to the Essendon aligned Bendigo Bombers by 42 points on Saturday. The finals bound Bombers had too much class for the young Cats, winning 20-12-(132) to 13-12-(90) in front of a healthy crowd at Skilled Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The match was part of a triple header at Skilled Stadium and was sandwiched between the VCFL interleague Under 18 and VCFL senior grade match contested by the Geelong Football League and the Bendigo Football League. In the end Bendigo won the Under 18’s and the VFL, while Geelong took out the Interleague senior grade match. Overall it was a 2-1 result to the football powerhouse that is the township of Bendigo.

The day was not all doom and gloom for the Cats. Dual AFL premiership wingman Shannon Byrnes, skipper Troy Selwood, young gun George Horlin-Smith and twin towers Trent West and Dawson Simpson all made successful returns after lengthy stints on the sidelines.

Despite the Bendigo Bombers recording the first 7 entries of the match, the Cats were the first team to have impact on the scoreboard. Calder Cannons recruit Jordan Schroder beat off a number of opponents to kick two early goals and give the young Cats an early advantage. The Bombers kicked late goals through Justin Maddern, Ariel Steinberg and Taite Silverlock to hit the lead at the break. First year players Cameron Guthrie and rookie listed Jonathon Simpkin were both prominent early and had the better of their Bendigo opponents.

The 9 point quarter time deficit was pushed out to 15 points when Bendigo forward dynamo Tory Dickson goaled within the first 30 seconds of the restart. After a quiet first term AFL omissions Alwyn Davey and Kyle Reimers both started to make an impact around the ground. Local star Justin Maddern then slotted through his second for the term 15 minutes into the quarter and the margin was out to 20 points. The signs were looking ominous for the VFL Cats who had been in a similar position throughout the early stages of season 2011. But to the delight of debutant VFL coach Matthew Egan and the local crowd in the stands, the Cats rallied and got themselves back in the contest. Goals to the ever present Simpkin, Lorne favourite son Casey Tutungi and the artist known as Steven Motlop gave Geelong the lead, before a Bendigo goal through Dickson got the Bombers back in the lead.

The football played by both sides in the 3rd quarter was of a very high standard and worth the entry fee alone. The pacy Bombers outfit kicked a couple of early goals and got out to a 31 point lead, before the home side led by inspirational co-captains Troy Selwood and Matthew Firman charged back into the contest. Schroder kicked a long goal and the move of Mitch Brown up the ground was an influential one as he started to make an impact. The Cats got to within 11 points at the 22 minute mark of the quarter and seemed to have all the run and the vocal home crowd behind them. Mark ‘Harry’ Corrigan had a shot on the run to get the Cats within 5 points at the 25 minute mark but the miss proved to be a costly one. A brilliant snap goal from the ‘Gary Ablett Jr pocket’ by Essendon wingman Travis Colyer, an easy sausage to ex Hawk Mark Williams and a 60 metre bomb from Ricky Dyson pushed the Bendigo lead out to 24 points.

Early goals in the final term to Taite Silverlock and Maddern put the result beyond doubt as the Bombers ran out 42 point winners. Many observers would believe that the final score of 20-12-(132) to 13-12-(90) was not a true reflection on the closeness of the contest and the Cats had their chances to paint a very different picture.

As has been the case all year, Cats fans could take a number of positives out of the performance. All of the players returning from injury got through the match unscathed, while the form of first year AFL recruits Cameron Guthrie, Jonathan Simpkin and Jordan Schroder was very encouraging.

Next up the VFL Cats travel to Box Hill City Oval to take on the Hawthorn aligned Box Hill Hawks next Saturday afternoon in a clash with the Geelong Vs Western Bulldogs AFL match at Skilled Stadium. The Box Hill Hawks sit in 10th position and have recorded only 2 wins for the season after being hit hard by the mounting injury list at Hawthorn.

Bendigo Bombers 20-12-(132)
Geelong Cats 13-12-(90)
Goals: Schroder 3, Tutungi, Bathie, Burbury, Byrnes, Gillies, Motlop, Horlin-Smith, Baker, Brown, Simpkin 1.
Best: Selwood, Schroder, Simpkin, Firman, Gillies, Corrigan.