Bombers Back On The Winning List

Essendon brushed off the wounds handed out by Collingwood last week, to jump back on the winning list after a comfortable 35 point victory over Sydney at the SCG on Saturday afternoon in AFL Round 15.

The 15.17 (107) to 10.12 (72) result sees the Bombers keep their nose inside the AFL Top 8 while killing off the Swans as one of their finals challengers.

Jason Winderlich finished with 25 touches and 3 goals in a BOG performance while Jobe Watson, Andrew Lovett and Brent Stanton (all with 29 possessions) were amongst the Bombers major ballwinners. Also prominent were Andrew Welsh (12 tackles) while skipper Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas each chipped in with a three goal game. Tayte Pears and Dustin Fletcher were solid in defence while Michael Hurley also performed well in just his second AFL game.

The Bombers drew first blood in the match after Kyle Reimers was on the end of a Jobe Watson pass to score the opening goal of the game. Lucas and Lloyd also stamped their presence early on but Swan forward Michael O’Loughlin kept the home side in the contest with two goals for the first quarter, but the Dons took a four-point lead going into the quarter time break.

Essendon booted the first four goals of the second quarter to open up a handy break with Lloyd’s second and majors to Winderlich, Sam Lonergan and Andrew Welsh. Ryan O’Keefe reduced the margin after a set shot goal, but the Bombers had done enough with a four goal to one second term to take a 18 point lead at half-time.

Lloyd added his third for the game in the third term to extend the Bombers lead to 31 points as the Bombers answered every Swan challenge to outscore the home side four goals to two to be on the brink of an ‘upset’ victory.

In the final quarter, Lucas and Winderlich each with their third of the day kept the Swans at bay as the home side could not close the margin with consecutive goals. The Bombers slowed the game down and blocking up the defensive corridors as their fitness shone through against the aging Sydney legs.

We have been blown away in our two previous interstate matches against Port Adelaide and Brisbane and we needed a win,” Essendon coach Matthew Knights said after the game. “We have two matches coming up at Subiaco against West Coast and Fremantle, so it was important to record a victory.”

“To grind a win away like that against a quality Sydney outfit was especially pleasing because the Swans keep going and never give up,” he said. “There was a lot of hard work at the stoppages and even at three-quarter time when we five goals up I told the boys to keep running hard and to keep kicking goals because the Swans are a team that would never give up.”

Next up for the Bombers is yet another Friday night blockbuster, this time with the Bulldogs at Jihad Stadium and the chance to stay ahead of the Top 8 contenders for another week.

“The Bulldogs are a major force and we will need to step up a notch.” Knights commented to finish his press conference.

|_\2. Injuries & Reports|
(tr1). |Injuries|Nil|
(tr2). |Changes|Nil|
(tr1). |Reports|Nil

Posted 11 July 09 in Match Review