A strong defence led by Brian Lake was the decisive factor in the 15.13 (103) to 11.4 (70) win. At the other end of the field the workrate of Brad Johnson and Robert Murphy oiled the wheels of the Bulldogs attack.
Essendon jumped away to the best start possible by whipping the ball out of the centre at the first bounce and setting up Heath Hocking to snap a goal.
In the opening minutes the Bombers ran the opposition off their feet, and it was impossible not to cast thoughts back to last week when Collingwood wrong-footed the Dogs in a similar fashion.
Brent Prismall kicked truly and the Dons had the upper hand but Robert Murphy’s creativity helped get the Bulldogs back on track.
Murphy’s match up on Dustin Fletcher was an early concern to the Bombers as he was able to slip the Essendon veteran. It was Murphy who booted their first goal from a free and another free for a push in the back gave Cooney their second a couple of minutes later.
Paddy Ryder’s energetic ruckwork was giving the Bulldogs plenty of headaches and the bulkier Bulldog duet of Will Minson and Ben Hudson needed to wear him down. There was nothing in the game at quarter time after Brad Johnson set up the goal for Josh Hill after a misunderstanding between Tayte Pears and Jason Winderlich.
The Bombers lifted a cog at the start of the second term with Winderlich, Alwyn Davey and Brent Stanton firing in goals in the space of five minutes. This phase of the game could have been even more productive if not for a great run-down tackle by Jason Akermanis on Ryder.
Essendon’s pace was electric. The Bulldogs were no slouches themselves, but they lacked a clear path to goal inside the forward 50 zone. Pears, Michael Hurley and Adam McPhee had done a great job to hold the Bulldog attack to a four goal first half.
Coming into half time the cracking pace was starting to take its toll on both teams with a number of handling errors. Essendon held an eight point lead at the long break.
Scott Welsh opened with a quick goal at the start of the third term and there were encouraging signs that the Bulldogs were moving the ball better into attack. But the Bombers kept on coming and Davey’s kick into the goalsquare was plucked by Ryder who goaled.
Minson goaled courtesy of a generous free and 50 metre penalty against Fletcher who had let the umpire know his opinion . Hahn got another in the next forward thrust to give the Dogs the lead and Essendon had to answer.
They did, through Lonergan . At the midpoint of the third quarter scores were level and it seemed at the game was about to enter its most critical stage.
Hahn goaled twice and was causing huge problems for the Dons. Less than a minute before three-quarter time Shaun Higgins goaled from a free kick despite Andrew Welsh’s protests.
Replays showed that Welsh had taken his eyes off ball in spoiling for the mark.
The Bulldogs went in with a 19-point advantage but despite their 19-10 ascendancy in scoring shots there was not a huge difference between the two teams.
Skipper Matthew Lloyd gave the Dons hope with a 50m goal but Hahn instantly replied with his fifth at the other end.
The edge had gone off the Bombers’ game and Welsh pushed the lead out to 33 points after marking 20m out.
The Bulldogs had the game well in their control and Shaun Higgins capped a fine performance with a long goal from a long set shot off the boundary line.
Essendon 3.1 6.2 8.2 11.4 (70)
Western Bulldogs 3.5 4.6 10.9 15.13 (103)
GOALS
Essendon: Lloyd 2, Hocking, Prismall, Reimers, Winderlich, Davey, Stanton, Ryder, Lonergan, Hurley.
Western Bulldogs: Hahn 5, Welsh 3, Higgins 2, Murphy, Cooney, Hill, Minson, Cross
.
BEST
Essendon: Lovett, Prismall, Ryder, Welsh, Stanton, Hurley, Dempsey.
Western Bulldogs: Lake, Higgins, Hahn, Johnson, Cross, Boyd.
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Jeffery, McLaren, Chamberlain
Official crowd: 47,120 at Docklands
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
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