Five Years On ... Bombers Back In Finals!

Five years later …. Essendon is finally back in the AFL Finals!

Following the Bombers 16.20 (116) to 14.15 (99) victory over Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday afternoon in AFL Round 22, the win cemented 8th spot on the AFL ladder and setup a trip to the same venue as their last finals appearance in 2004 – AAMI Stadium in Adelaide and an Elimination Final matchup against the Crows next Friday night.

Having looked all but gone at half-time, a crunching Matthew Lloyd tackle to start the second half and a four-goal haul from ‘boom youngster’ Michael Hurley put the Bombers into its first finals series since 2004.

Down by 22 points at half-time, the Bombers 2009 season was looking down the barrel as the reigning AFL Premier was calling the shots all over the ground. Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell picked up 20 first half possessions while his ‘tagger’ Andrew Welsh was ineffective with only five touches. Despite missing key forwards Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Mark Williams, young Hawk Beau Dowler provided a target forward early with three goals and it looked like Essendon would get ripped apart by another ‘no-name’ forward like they have many times before in the past.

The first term was fierce, and neither side could make a decisive break, with eight points the biggest lead of the term. The side swapped goals for three lead changes and the Hawks led at the first break by eight points.

The Hawks booted the last two goals of the first quarter through Dowler to take an eight point lead at the first break. Both sides had swapped goals for three lead changes to begin the game before Dowler made his mark on the contest.

Hawthorn continued the momentum in the second term, booting the first three goals of the term with Dowler adding a third to give his side a 23 point lead. Andrew Lovett goaled for the Bombers to break the Hawk run, but five goals to two in the second quarter handed the Hawks a 22 point lead at the main break.

The second half started with a bang literally …

Essendon skipper Matthew Lloyd charged into the centre square at the start of the second half and collected Hawk Brad Sewell with his shoulder with Sewell out cold before he hit the ground. The incident sparked a melee and mini-fights with Bomber ruckman Patrick Ryder reported for striking in the aftermath,

Lloyd’s hit on Sewell however sparked the Bombers into life and kicked nine of the next 11 goals to turn the contest on it’s head.

Five goals to two in the third term saw the Bombers reduce the half-time deficit to 5 points and that carried on into the final term as the Bombers piled on six last quarter goals to overrun the Hawks and come away comfortable 17 point winners.

Michael Hurley was the major force in the revival, finishing with four goals and a team-high 10 marks, while Brent Stanton (31 disposals), Brent Prismall and Heath Hocking took control in the midfield.

“I said to the players I felt they had really earned their finals spot, particularly post the West Coast and Richmond games,” Bomber coach Matthew Knights said after the game. “We played Brisbane who was a top five or six side, we played St Kilda and we played the reigning premier in the last round. So I felt over the last month, we have grabbed eighth spot now. We deserve to be there.”

“We haven’t seen any action for five years for a club that has a rich history of success, it’s been a really barren period as in finals football,” Knights added. “We have to now make sure we have a solid impact in the finals, make sure it’s not (just) a satisfaction that we made it. We have got to try and make a bit of a splash and really go after trying to get a win next week.”

In their only meeting this year, next weeks Elimination Final opponent Adelaide defeated Essendon by 16 points at Jihad Stadium in Round 11 after the Bombers led all game until the final term.

Posted 29 August 09 in Match Review