PADDY Ryder had a front row seat to the thrilling finale of Essendon's clash with the Sydney Swans and he couldn't have been happier with what he saw.

Adam Goodes' shot after the siren could have inflicted a cruel loss on the Bombers, but instead a relieved Ryder was able to happily recount his role in the electrifying climax of the one-point win.

"I was at the top of the 50 and I saw Hardi [Kyle Hardingham] on the mark so I ran over to get on the mark so Goodesy would have to kick over me. I reckon that's why he missed it," Ryder said smiling broadly.

"It looked good off the boot and I was a bit worried, but then I could see that it was going for the post. I was hoping it wasn't going to swing back late, but it stayed on line and went through for a point.

"He's usually a good kick, but you can't practice those ones at training. It's pretty tough in that situation with the crowd screaming at you to miss. I guess we were a bit lucky there."

Ryder had 31 hit-outs in a good night out for him, which he puts down to his renewed efforts on the training track.

He's happy to be getting some reward for effort, but he's even more thrilled that the Bombers are right in the thick of the fight for the finals thanks to the self-belief shown late in the game.

"It was really good composure by the boys to be able to hit back with those two goals late," he said.

"Most teams struggle to kick scores against them especially in the dying stages of matches when the going is really tough.

"For us to do that against the Swans was really good.

"We knew that it was going to be a tough game just because of the way that Sydney plays. It was great to get the win."