Round 20 - Carlton Match Review

Essendon’s slim AFL Finals hopes remain alive after they recovered from a dismal first-half performance to overtake arch rival Carlton and register their 10th win of the season by 10 points at the MCG in AFL Round 20 – 18.10 (118) to 16.12 (108).

Trailing by 29 points early in the third term, Richmond fans were quietly celebrating as it looked like the Blues were handing them the 2007 number one draft pick, but all that changed in the space of three minutes.

With young ruckman Jason Laycock imposing himself in the middle, three Bomber goals in three minutes reduced the margin from 29 to 11 with Adam McPhee, Angus Monfries, Mark McVeigh and Andrew Welsh prominent contributors in the Bombers resurgence.

Essendon skipper Matthew Lloyd had a day out with a six goal haul and to top off the Bombers seven goal third quarter, seconds before the three-quarter-time siren where he nudged Carlton defender Jarrad Waite under a long kick to the goal square, Lloyd dropped the ball between his legs, where he back-heeled a drop kick through to put the Bombers in front for the first time since the 12-minute mark of the game and head into the final term with a slender one point lead.

The Blues, led by Brad Fisher with four goals, 12 marks and 19 disposals, managed to open up a 10 point break by the 16 minute mark of the final term before the Bombers scored the last three goals of the contest to take home the four points.

Andrew Lovett, who was barely sighted for most of the first three quarters, came into the game along with ex-skipper James Hird to make several telling plays. With the Bombers down three points into time-on in the final term, Lovett dashed through the centre and hand passed to Lloyd, who in turn passed it over the top to an unmarked Jason Laycock in the goal square to give the Bombers back the lead. And it was Lovett again who came up with the sealer 30 minutes into the final term, when he smothered an Andrew Walker kick, recovered the ball and ran in to score from a tight angle on the goal line.

The Bombers’ first-half effort however was nothing short of forgettable. As they were pedestrian and uninspired and at times looked like a junior side set for a 10 goal thrashing. The Bombers dismal first half was compounded with an abductor muscle injury to defender Dustin Fletcher which forced him to the bench early in the second quarter where he would spend the rest of the day.

Lloyd was inspirational for the Bombers, and arguably had his best game for 2007 in finishing with six goals from 15 touches while former Blue Scott Camporeale gathered a match-high 35 possessions and was aided by Brent Stanton (28 possessions), Adam McPhee (26 possessions and 2 goals), Jay Nash (26 touches) and Angus Monfries (24 touches and 2 goals).

“That was one of the quickest teams I’ve seen Essendon have out there for quite some time,” Outgoing Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the game. “Not totally experienced enough at the moment, but they could be. I think Essendon’s in a better position than what they think they are.”

“We had to regenerate a new team over and the club does in general and I’ll try and assist that over the next few weeks which is what I told the club I would do over the last six weeks of my coaching tenure.”

After writing off the Bombers finals chances following last week’s heavy defeat by Fremantle, Sheedy has apparently re-done the maths.

“We’re an outside chance,” he concluded.

Regardless of maths, Essendon need to win their final two matches against Richmond next week and the season finale against reigning AFL Premier West Coast to sneak into September action.

Game Details
Ground	MCG
Home / Away	Home
Attendance	48,638
Umpires	Farmer, Kennedy, Jeffery

Scores
	1 / 4	2 / 4	3 / 4	Full Time
Essendon	2.1	5.3	12.6	18.10.118
Carlton	4.5	8.8	11.11	16.12.108

Best Players
Essendon	Lloyd, Camporeale, Stanton, Monfries, Lovett, Welsh
Carlton	Fisher, Carrazzo, Houlihan, Betts, Waite

Goals
Essendon	Lloyd 6, McPhee, Monfries 2, Lucas, Reimers, M. Johnson, McVeigh, Hird, Lovett-Murray, Laycock, Lovett
Carlton	Fisher 4, Lappin, Betts 2, Walker, Whitnall, O’hAilpin, Bannister, Saddington, Carrazzo, Jackson, Murphy

Injuries and Reports
Injuries	Fletcher (adductor)
Reports	Nil

The Team
B:	McVeigh	Michael	Slattery
HB:	McPhee	Lovett-Murray	Winderlich
C:	Nash	Stanton	Reimers
HF:	Welsh	Lucas	Gumbleton
F:	M. Johnson	Lloyd	Fletcher
R:	Laycock	Camporeale	Monfries
INT:	Hird	Hocking	Lovett
	Ryder
EMG:	Peverill	Ramanauskas	Watson

Posted 18 August 07 in Match Review News