THE WESTERN Bulldogs' NAB Cup hopes have been dashed by a relentless Essendon side, with the Bombers claiming a comfortable 54-point win at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
The undermanned Bulldogs were never in the contest as Essendon cruised to the 3.12.14 (113) to 0.8.11 (59) victory, with kicking yips and skill errors glaring contributors to the result.
With the effects of the Darwin road trip a possible reason behind the Dogs' sluggishness, the slick Essendon unit made them pay for mistakes and blew them away with precise ball movement and accuracy up forward.
In completely different conditions to the ones they played in last week, the Bulldogs – who were missing Lindsay Gilbee, Daniel Giansiracusa, Ryan Griffen, Farren Ray, Tom Williams and Jarrod Harbrow – looked out of sorts on the enclosed arena while the Bombers were collectively on song.
There were no answers for Essendon's Scott Lucas, who finished with three supergoals and two six-pointers, while young gun Kyle Reimers snuck under the radar to end with three majors.
For the Dogs, Adam Cooney again collected plenty of the ball with 29 touches, while Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd did what was required of them again. Shaun Higgins found 15 possessions in his first game for the year, while Josh Hill booted two final-term goals.
Robert Murphy was good – although he shanked a set shot in the second term – and was a defensive alternative when the Bombers got a run on, while Brad Johnson was solid and the only other Dog to score multiple goals.
The day didn't start well for the Dogs with Jarrad Grant rushed to hospital in the early hours of the morning following an encounter with a stingray. Proceedings didn't get much better once the ball was bounced at Telstra Dome.
The Bombers were out to a 21-point lead by quarter time, with the combination of Will Minson, Cameron Wight and Stephen Tiller struggling to jell up forward, while Scott Welsh was largely confined to the bench with illness and Johnson closely shadowed by Damien Peverill.
Minson, in his first senior game since round six last year, looked a picture of fitness but finished with just the one goal. Wight and Tiller failed to kick a major, while former forward Andrew McDougall had a difficult evening down back.
The second term belonged to Lucas, who booted a supergoal and couldn't be contained by either McDougall or Brian Lake. Up the other end, things didn't go much better with Murphy, Akermanis and Tiller all missing easy goals.
The Bombers made the most of their forward entries, and while the Dogs had more on paper, they trailed by 39 points on the scoreboard at half time.
The deficit got larger in the third with the Bombers flourishing with Ricky Dyson and Jobe Watson providing excellent drive, and the Bulldogs retaliating by throwing Murphy into defence to help stem the damage.
The sting was well out of the match when the Bombers took a 48-point lead into the fourth stanza, and when Lucas added his third supergoal midway through the term, the final nail was hammered in.
To compound matters for the Dogs, a groggy Tim Callan was helped from the ground following a head clash as the quarter wound down, in just his second match for the club.
The Bulldogs will now travel to Bendigo to take on Melbourne on Friday evening in a NAB Challenge match, while the Bombers will play the winner of Geelong and St Kilda in next Friday’s NAB Cup semi-final.
Western Bulldogs 0.2.2 0.3.6 0.5.9 0.8.11 (59)
Essendon 0.5.5 1.8.6 2.10.9 3.12.14 (113)
GOALS
Essendon: Supergoals: Lucas 3. Goals: Reimers 3, Lucas 2, Welsh 2, Hille, Johnson, Laycock, Houli, Lovett-Murray
Western Bulldogs: Supergoals: Nil. Goals: Hill 2, Johnson 2, Minson, Cooney, Street, Akermanis
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Johnson, Boyd, Cooney, Cross, Murphy, Akermanis
Essendon: Lucas, Dyson, Lovett-Murray, Hille, Reimers, Houli, Watson, Monfries
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Welsh (illness), Callan (concussion)
Essendon: Michael (hamstring tightness)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Chamberlain, McInerney
Official crowd: 19,831 at Telstra Dome
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
