The day began with a special family moment as Kevin Dunque finally played a game with his nephew Jake Kilmartin.
With a strong breeze favouring one end, Bendigo had numerous forward 50 entries.
The Emus played a defensive short game and had plenty of the ball themselves.
Rob Guerra in the ruck was tapping the ball brilliantly, giving Josh Hunter, Lucas Walker, Gary Davis and Mark Van Poeteren plenty of opportunities.
The second quarter was a real arm wrestle with Bendigo getting the ball into their forward half against the breeze.
The backline was excellently led by Damian Hammond, Damian Palmer and Garner Smith, restricting Bendigo to one goal.
At the other end, it was Paul Elso who opened the account for the Emus.
In the 3rd quarter, the Emus kept their short game going and while not hitting the scoreboard were maintaining possession of the ball, keeping Bendigo’s scoring to a minimum.
Jake Kilmartin had a fantastic quarter down back as did new players Matt O’ Connor and Daniel Flemming.
With the magnets thrown around to start the last quarter and only one on the bench, it was the Emus who had last use of the strong breeze.
Brett Marchant and Ashley Formosa got busy up forward and Craig Danswan provided some valuable forward entries.
Two goals to Jake Kilmartin and singles to Troy Arlow and Garner Smith had the Emus just falling short, with the final margin 10 points.
The Emus train every Wednesday night at the Echuca South oval from 6pm.
All players new and experienced are most welcome.
We are affiliated with the Vic Country Masters.
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