The Bombers produced a comeback that will live long in the memory to beat Hepburn by a point on Saturday and keep its place at the top of the ladder.

With just four rounds of the home and away campaign remaining, the Bombers are two games clear of the fifth-placed Waubra with clashes against Creswick (11th), Bungaree (third), Ballan (eighth) and Clunes (17th) to come.

The Bombers looked a beaten brigade when Jacob Brown converted to give the visitors a 24-point lead nine minutes into the final term, but a stirring fightback ripped the result from the Burras’ grasp.

Jake Dunne became a presence deep in attack for the hosts and kicked the next two goals and then Sam Turner emerged from congestion to close the margin to a single kick.

Joint-coach Jarrod Morgan missed a golden opportunity to level the scores, but cut the lead to five points before Liam Rigby marked and had the ball hit out of his possession.

The umpire called a 50m penalty, which took the Bomber tall to close range.

Rigby made no mistake from the resulting shot and gave his side a one-point advantage.