Round 8 - Brisbane Match Review

Essendon put aside a week of distractions involving the future of coach Kevin Sheedy to bounce back onto the winning list for the first time in four weeks with an impressive 64 point win over Brisbane at the Phone Dome in AFL Round 8.

The victory was just the Bombers third in their past 12 meetings against the Lions dating back to 2001 and keeps them in touch with the AFL Top 8 with a 4-4 record.

The controversial off-season move by triple Brisbane premiership player Mal Michael to the Bombers provided and extra spark in the game with expected anticipation of his match up with Lions power forward Jonathan Brown.

However the match up with Brown turned out to be a fizzer as Michael and Dustin Fletcher along with Patrick Ryder combined to cut Brown out of the match as the Lions forward line fell apart in the second half.

The victory was set up by a dominant third quarter by the Bombers in which they outscored the Lions 6.5 to 0.2 to turn a 14-point half-time lead into a 53-point break going into the final term.

Veteran James Hird provided the spark, producing a vintage display in his 25 disposals, 14 marks and two goals game, as helped to setup two of his side’s three opening quarter goals in the opening quarter as the Bombers opened up an eight point quarter-time lead.

Hird continued on in the second term where he left off in the first, with him kicking his side’s opening goal of the term, after Brisbane veteran Luke Power gave away a free kick on the wing and then gave up a 50m penalty by arguing the decision with the maggot in green to move Hird within scoring range.

Later in the term, Lions defender Daniel Merrett felt the force of an annoyed Matthew Lloyd after marking in the centre of the ground, Merrett was tackled, dropped the ball and Essendon rushed it forward for an easy goal to second gamer Bachar Houli to give the Bombers a 14 point lead heading into the main break.

Holding the Lions goalless in the third term, as the Bombers piled on six goals of their own ended the match as a contest as the Bomber lead blew out to 53 with Angus Monfries, Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Mark McVeigh doing the damage on the scoreboard as the Bomber defence kept the Lions to only two behinds for the quarter.

With the sting taken out of the game, the final quarter fritted away to it’s inevitable end as the Bombers took the opportunity for a percentage boost as the margin approached 11 goals and equaled the Bombers highest ever winning margin over the Brisbane Lions.

Along with Hird’s turning back the clock game, Jobe Watson had 29 touches, Dustin Fletcher 26, Mark Johnson 23 while Mark McVeigh was outstanding with 21 disposals and two goals in a run-with role on Luke Power.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the match he believed the death of James Hird’s grandfather Allan earlier in the week spurred the Bombers champion on to his match-winning performance.

“There’s a lot of depth in Hirdy as a person, he’s probably always had most things go right for him except a few injuries in his life and career,” Sheedy said. “But when a family member dies you’d want to play pretty well, wouldn’t you, I would think and he did. Not that you’re thinking about it all the time, but you say ‘I’m going to play well today’ and as soon as he makes up his mind to do that everyone else is in trouble.”

With the Bombers now on a level 4-4 footing, the have the opportunity to stay around the AFL Top 8 mix with a victory over current ladder cellar dweller Richmond at the MCG in AFL Round 9 next week.

Game Details
Ground	Dome
Home / Away	Home
Attendance	35,034
Umpires	Kennedy, K. Nicholls, Pannell

Scores
	1 / 4	2 / 4	3 / 4	Full Time
Essendon	3.6	7.10	13.15	18.19.127
Brisbane	2.4	5.8	5.10	8.15.63

Best Players
Essendon	Hird, McVeigh, Watson, Fletcher, Stanton, Davey
Brisbane	Selwood, Adcock, Black, Hadley, Lappin

Goals
Essendon	Lloyd 4, Houli, McVeigh, Monfries, Hird 2, Hille, J. Johnson, Watson, Davey, Lucas, Stanton
Brisbane	Selwood 2, Brown, McGrath, Begley, Drummond, Notting, Patfull

Injuries and Reports
Injuries	Lovett (knee) replaced in selected side by Dyson
Reports	Nil

The Team
B:	M. Johnson	Michael	McVeigh
HB:	Fletcher	Ryder	Winderlich
C:	McPhee	Peverill	Cole
HF:	Hird	Lucas	Houli
F:	Davey	Lloyd	J. Johnson
R:	Hille	Watson	Stanton
INT:	Camporeale	Dyson	Monfries
	Slattery
EMG:	Bolton	Bradley

Posted 19 May 07 in Match Review News