Finding themselves 23 points adrift midway through the third term, the Bushies quickly piled on five unanswered goals to pinch the lead early in the final quarter, much to the delight of the Shepparton home crowd.
But unfortunately for coach Emma Mackie her side could not complete the job in her first game at the helm, as a gripping final 10 minutes culminated in Bendigo’s Keely Fullerton registering a behind in the dying seconds to put her team ahead 7.11 (53) to 8.4 (52) at the final siren.
Despite the disappointment of coming up short, Mackie said there were plenty of positives to take out of the way the girls fought their way back into the contest.
“A few people have said to me ‘bad luck’ or ‘that must have been hard’ since the game, but to be honest I felt really good about the match,” Mackie said.
“I was really proud of the way the girls played and to come back and actually challenge for the win, the girls showed they were resilient which is a great trait to have.
“Going down by a point in the end it just showed how great of a game it was, and I think we showcased the strengths in our game plan we had worked hard on over the pre-season.”
Being the first match of the season, it took a while for the Bushies to find their feet, as they did not register their first goal until the early stages of the second term.
This early rust had them fall into an early hole, as the talented Bendigo squad took advantage to open up a sizeable four-goal margin.
While the Bushrangers could have easily gone through the motions and fallen to a sound defeat, they kept trying to win back control of the match, and in the late stages of the third term eventually started to showcase their strengths and produced a stunning flurry of majors to hit the front.
Mackie said her team’s purple patch was proof of what it could achieve when playing at its full potential.
“Resilience is something we’ve spoken a lot about, being able to bounce back after teams challenge us is crucial, and that patch showed that we can do it,” she said.
“We got the game on our terms and that came from our ability to use the ball well and get our free-flowing and attacking style of play up and running.
“When the girls were in full-flight it was fantastic to watch.”
One of the major catalysts behind the fightback, Rumbalara junior Ellie Armstrong was a standout on debut, registering 14 disposals and a crucial major on what was a successful return to Mercury Drive.
Shepparton Swans product Holly Egan was also prolific through the midfield, winning a team-high 17 disposals and kicking a goal.
“Those two girls shone, they had a great game,” Mackie said.
“Ellie Armstrong really impressed me, it was really great to see her in action and I think she will continue to get better with more games she plays at the level.
“While Holly was huge around the contest, with her ability to win the footy being a real asset to our team.”
Mackie and her troops will have an opportunity to register their first win of the season this Saturday as they travel to Highgate Recreation Reserve to take on the Sydney Swans Academy.
She said the clash would be a great test for the girls against a Swans side that began its season with a gritty 11-point win over Dandenong at the weekend.
“I did have a chat with the Dandenong coach earlier this week and I hear they (the Swans) are a strong contested team,” she said.
“They have bigger bodies and I think when we have played them before those bigger players did get the better of us.
“So it will be a great test for our girls to come up against a team that plays a physical brand and hopefully they can rise to the challenge.”
Murray Bushrangers take on the Sydney Swans Academy at Highgate Recreation Reserve on Saturday afternoon, with the first bounce at 12.15pm.
