Round 6 - Hawthorn Match Review

It was more of circa 2006 Essendon football as the Bombers collapsed to their second successive loss with a 35 point drubbing by Hawthorn at the MCG in AFL Round 6.

In play reminiscent of much of 2006, it was a one-dimensional, slow, uncommitted, soft Essendon team than wilted under Hawthorn’s defensive pressure, just as they did against Collingwood at the same venue 10 days earlier on ANZAC Day.

Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin had a day out kicking 9 goals and saw off Mal Michael, Dustin Fletcher and Adam McPhee in the process as the Hawks piled on 17 goals in the last three quarters to take home the four points and push the Bombers to a 3-3 record after 6 rounds and into a ‘must-win’ match against the Kangaroos in Friday night football at the Phone Dome in AFL Round 7 next week.

In front of over 52,000 fans on a bleak Melbourne Saturday afternoon, it was the Bombers who jumped out of the gate first (such is their recent tendency) with Andrew Lovett and Andrew Welsh giving the Bombers the opening two goals of the match. Courtney Johns, filling in at full-forward for injured skipper Matthew Lloyd who was replaced before the game with Jobe Watson, and Brent Stanton chipped in for opening quarter goals also as the Bombers lead fluctuated around the two goal margin for most of the first term before Ben Dixon via a dubious free kick and goal kept the Hawks in touch at the first break down by 5 points.

Jason Johnson playing his first game for 2007, gave the Bombers a handy 11 point lead with the first goal of the second quarter, before the Franklin show wound up after a goalless first term and his five second quarter goals in the space of 14 minutes and the Hawks suddenly had a 21 point lead heading into time-on in the second term. Late Bomber goals to Johnson and Welsh cut the margin to eight points at the main break.

Franklin added two more goals in the third quarter as the Hawks but the Bombers rallied during the third term after quick goals to Patrick Ryder and Stanton had the Bombers down by only 3 points and a sniff of momentum. Alwyn Davey had the chance to put the Bombers back in front but the Hawks defence made a saving mark right on the goal line.

From that point on it was all Hawthorn as they then added four goals during time-on in the third term, including two more to Franklin, and all of a sudden the Hawks had a comfortable 29 point lead at the final break.

Davey with his second gave the Bombers a slight sniff to open the final term but the next two goals to the Hawks snuffed out any hopes of a comeback as they ran out comfortable victors and registered their four successive victories over the Bombers.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said after the match his team was handed a football lesson.

“There are games where you do lose that you think, ‘well, we might have been unlucky’, but today wasn’t one of them,” Sheedy said. “I thought Hawthorn played really good footy and Hawthorn showed us how to use the ball. Every time we turned it over we had ourselves (to blame)… a couple of glaring ones. We kicked poor old Kepler Bradley around last week but there were three or four blokes out there just as bad or worse today in simple basic skills of footy.”

Sheedy added that his team was desperately in need of some more run through the midfield and said that the inclusion of a couple of youngsters next week against the Kangaroos may be required to provide the missing spark.

Jason Johnson with 30 possessions and 2 goals was the Bombers best, while Damien Peverill (31 possessions), Mark McVeigh, Brent Stanton and Alwyn Davey were the best of a bad bunch.

Posted  5 May 07 in News