Melbourne have pulled away from Essendon for an important win in a scrappy game at Etihad Stadium.
The Demons started the more strongly of the two teams but with both sides very much struggling to find targets by foot, scoring was difficult.
The Bombers stayed in touch, and in turn got on top for periods of the second quarter. They too weren’t clean enough to get any sort of advantage.
Both sides were wasteful in front of goal, but particularly noticeable was poor Joe Daniher, who kicked 0.6 in the first half and seemed to lose all confidence in his shooting, despite otherwise getting the better of the Melbourne defence.
After a first half characterised by mistakes and poor footy from both sides – inexcusably poor in the sheltered conditions of Etihad Stadium – Essendon held a narrow two point lead.
The game opened up a great deal in the third quarter, with both sides showing a lot more urgency and determination to attack.
It was the Demons who were better able to take advantage of their opportunities.
Led by Jack Viney, who had an excellent quarter, Melbourne kicked seven goals to two for the quarter to push out to a thirty-three point lead at the last change.
That scoreboard dominance for the Dees was in spite of losing the inside 50 count for the quarter; they were simply much more penetrating and effective with their forward entries, and despite missing their number one key forward in Jesse Hogan were sharp enough at ground level to take advantage.
Melbourne kicked the first two goals of the last quarter to open up a seven-goal lead, and with both sides tired off a short break that was more or less the end of the contest.
Essendon to their credit kept fighting the game out and the two sides traded late goals to eventually finalise the margin at 38 points for Melbourne.
It’s a little tricky to identify the game’s best players, because frankly the overall quality of disposal this afternoon was very poor, particularly in the first half.
Tyson, Oliver, and Lewis had plenty of possessions for Melbourne, as did Merrett and Goddard for the Bombers, but I don’t know if any of those five would be really happy with what they did with those touches.
Jack Watts and Christian Petracca were an effective forward combination for the winners, kicking four goals each. Michael Hibberd and Sam Frost had influential games at the other end. Cam Pedersen did well as a makeshift ruckman.
Michael Hurley was exceptional in defence for the Bombers, taking many intercept marks, often contested, and rebounded well from the backline. The player of the match, for mine.
The Bombers will also be happy with the continued good form of number one draft pick Andrew McGrath. While Joe Daniher’s shocking kicking will be the talking point – ending with one goal and six behinds – with 17 touches, 13 marks and 9 hit outs he was very much involved in the game.
It must be said that this was not a very good game of footy overall. There are old cliches about winning ugly but I think Melbourne would be grateful the Bombers were so far from their best this afternoon.
In real terms, the Demons will finish the round on 3-3 and just inside the eight, with their hopes of breaking their finals drought this season very much alive.
Nevertheless, they would want to improve on today’s performance.
Essendon also finish the round with an even win-loss record, but with their draw looking pretty challenging over the next six weeks this looks like a missed opportunity in their finals hunt.
Final score
Essendon Bombers 10.14.74
Melbourne Demons 17.10.112
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For all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the now-traditional Anzac Day clash at the MCG, there has been one thing conspicuously lacking over…
Old mate summing it up better than anyone possibly could!
