Round 12 - Port Adelaide Match Review

Off the back of four wins, including back-to-back one point victories over the two 2006 AFL Grand Finalists, the Bombers have came back to earth with a thud following a scoreboard flattering 31 point loss to Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in AFL Round 12.

After an abysmal start, where the Power jumped the Bombers in the first term to take a 37 point lead into the first break, over the next two terms the home side continued to extend their lead to as much as 75 points in the third quarter and it looked like another triple digit loss in the city of Adelaide was on the agenda for the Bombers.

However, for reasons known only to the players themselves, be that either the Bombers lifted or most likely the Power players shut up shop and began thinking of the after match beers, the 75 point margin was reduced to 31 in the end with a seven goal unanswered Essendon run to finish the match and save some percentage points.

The loss however leaves the Bombers teetering on the edge of the AFL Top 8 with a 7-5 record heading into the split round break before a matchup with an improving Melbourne on June 29 followed up with a date with current AFL ladder leader Geelong.

As expected midfielder Brent Stanton was a late withdrawal with an ankle injury and he was joined in the stand by Scott Camporeale who had a “virus” which meant Chris Heffernan and Jay Nash came into the selected side.

Like the week previous against reigning AFL Premier West Coast, the match looked like being over before the first break as the Power setup their 36 point quarter time lead with a seven goal to one term which saw them totally dominant the Bombers all over the ground combined with laughable skill errors from the visiting team.

Things did not get any better in the second term as the Power added another six goals to stretch their lead to 47 at the main change and barring a miracle the match as a viable contest was already over.

The Power marched on in the third term kicking another six with Power skipper Warren Tredrea celebrating his 2005th AFL game with a four goal haul and he was joined by Brett Ebert and rookie Robert Gray with four goals of their own as the Power lead blew out to 75. A late Mark McVeigh goal reduced the margin to 69 at the final break, but by then all the Bombers could do is to play for pride.

Six goals to nil in the final term gave the Bombers a minor victory and saved some face but with forwards Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas kicking only one goal each for the game and James Hird having a quiet night with only nine kicks and five handpasses, their three best players had little influence on the contest.

Jason Johnson finished with 28 possessions to be the leading ball winner for the Bombers on the night. Jobe Watson and Adam McPhee chipped in with 27 a piece each while late inclusion Jay Nash, Damien Peverill and Mark McVeigh were also amongst the Bombers best.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the match he was happy the match ended up ‘respectable’ on the scoreboard.

“That was a pleasing side of the game,” Sheedy said. “Our best players didn’t play that well tonight. It was a good effort by Port to shut them down. But we actually never gave up. And that’s a very important spirit in a team that I’m looking for, as compared to what we had last year.”

“We might have blown out and lost six percent, but in the end we only lost three,” Sheedy added. “To get away with probably losing three percent I think we were probably a little bit fortunate in the end.”

“I thought Laycock played a better game in the ruck. And I thought Winderlich played quite well. And we need those sort of players to come on.

“We’ll get back Stanton and a few other players like Lovett and Lovett-Murray soon, but it has been a great opportunity to have those kids play and give them the confidence to move on.”

“The season is pretty tight. We were hoping, naturally, to win, but how many teams have won five in a row this season? And that’s what we were going for. And they were going for their first win in five weeks.

“We’ve had some pretty tight, tough games over the last month. We’ve got up and won three games by a kick and I think that the break is coming at the right time for us.”

“We’ve got to make sure that these last 10 matches are a pretty exciting period for our club.”

Game Details
Ground	AAMI
Home / Away	Away
Attendance	25,242
Umpires	Grun, Wenn, Ellis

Scores
	1 / 4	2 / 4	3 / 4	Full Time
Essendon	1.3	5.8	7.13	13.17.95
Port Adelaide	7.4	13.6	19.10	19.12.126

Best Players
Essendon	J. Johnson, McPhee, McVeigh, Peverill, Watson, Winderlich
Port Adelaide	C. Cornes, Cassisi, K. Cornes, Tredrea, Wakelin, P. Burgoyne

Goals
Essendon	McVeigh, Peverill, McPhee 2, Lucas, Heffernan, Laycock, Bolton, Lloyd, Welsh, Nash
Port Adelaide	Gray, Ebert, Tredrea 4, Westhoff 2, S. Burgoyne, Ebert, Rodan, C. Cornes, White

Injuries and Reports
Injuries	Stanton (ankle) and Camporeale (virus) replaced in selected side by Heffernan and Nash
Reports	Nil

The Team
B:	Hird	Michael	Bolton
HB:	McVeigh	Ryder	Fletcher
C:	Slattery	J. Johnson	McPhee
HF:	Peverill	Lucas	Welsh
F:	Davey	Lloyd	M. Johnson
R:	Hille	Watson	Winderlich
INT:	Heffernan	Laycock	Monfries
	Nash
EMG:	Johns

Posted 17 June 07 in Match Review News