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The Western Bulldogs are alive and kicking in 2021, nabbing their lone August win in the game that counted to down Essendon by 49 points and set up and intriguing semi-final with the Brisbane Lions.
The Bombers were far from disgraced in their first final under Ben Rutten, but struggled to adapt to the conditions as the rain came down in the second half and were left to rue poor kicking for goal in the defeat.
But the loss means Essendon’s infamous finals drought extends to well beyond 6,203 days – with their last September win coming by five points against Melbourne in a 2004 elimination final.
In front of a massively pro-Essendon crowd, the Bombers got off to the perfect start when the spoil from a penetrating kick inside 50 landed in the lap of ex-Bulldog Jake Stringer. He snapped across the body for a quick goal to give his team a huge early lift.
Stringer kicks the first against his old side!
Big-time player ???? pic.twitter.com/DO1lkWHC3H
— 7AFL (@7AFL) August 29, 2021
The scoreboard wasn’t ticking, but Essendon were all over the Dogs in the early exchanges, racking up inside 50s and putting a lot more pressure on their opponents than they were feeling themselves.
That inability to make them pay on the scoreboard came back to bite, with Cody Weightman slotted the Doggies’ first off a free kick with six minutes remaining. They were in barely a minute later with forward pressure allowing Mitch Hannan to break through with a second major.
Despite being heavily outplayed, at least on the stat sheet, the Dogs were able to take a three-point lead to the first break.
Tim English should have put them further ahead early in the second, but hit the post with a simple set shot, and the Dons struck back soon after.
Devon Smith was the recipient of a dubious 50-metre penalty in the centre square, but still did well to send his 40-metre set shot through in driving rain to wrestle back the lead.
A costly 50m penalty against the Dogs leads to a goal for the Bombers.
???? BLOG: https://t.co/XXmJv6IJTA
???? MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/0aa2lOq3qS
???? WATCH #AFLDogsDons #AFLFinals: https://t.co/oimyvzZMcf pic.twitter.com/KXiBkuieJi— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 29, 2021
The Bombers had another one on the board quickly after Sam Draper’s snap from a forward stoppage was dribbled through from point blank by Darcy Parish.
But the Dogs were able to respond quickly from their own dubious free kick, with Dylan Shiel pinged for a deliberate out of bounds after a soccer to space got away from him, but Aaron Naughton earned his major with a superb snap across the body from 35 out on the boundary.
A controversial deliberate call leads to an Aaron Naughton goal – was it the right call? ????
???? BLOG: https://t.co/XXmJv6IJTA
???? MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/0aa2lOq3qS
???? WATCH #AFLDogsDons #AFLFinals: https://t.co/oimyvzZMcf pic.twitter.com/1ABjGKJreS— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 29, 2021
All of a sudden, the Doggies were in the lead once more after Weightman deposited his second from a free kick at full forward.
The rest of the quarter was much more of an arm wrestle. Josh Schache and Stringer traded goals to see the Dogs head into the long break with a slender three-point margin.
The Dons again had more than their fair share of ball inside 50, but were unable to make the most of their opportunities, whereas the Dogs were able to convert most of theirs.
It was a stark contrast their most recent meeting in the home-and-away season and Dermott Brereton noted as such in Fox Footy’s commentary.
“It’s almost like they’ve swapped jumpers since Round 21. The Bombers have gone inside 50 much more often than the Doggies … but there is a lack of cohesion.”
“Peter Wright, the giant-killer from that game, has spent the last eight minutes on the bench because he’s unable to get his hands on the footy.”
The rain really started to pour in the second half, with the bright yellow football resembling a large bar of soap as player after player struggled to maintain possession.
It took almost until the halfway mark of the third quarter for another goal to be kicked and it came through Weightman once more after Martin Gleeson was caught holding on.
Weightman was able to slot goal number four barely a minute later after being the recipient of another free kick – this time for what looked to be a straightforward bump that was called a push in the back.
Essendon had struggled to adapt their gameplan to the wet conditions and continually turned the ball over with long kicks up and down the ground that were never going to be marked. The Dogs, on the other hand, where prepared to move it by hand and just whack it forward whenever they could to put defenders under pressure
Gleeson’s tricky kick out of defensive 50 with six minutes remaining was a prime example, with the return kick finding Schache in space and he nailed the set shot to make it 20 points.
Goals were hard to come by, but there was plenty of spice and physicality that occasionally boiled over with two off-the-ball free kicks – including one just before the end of the quarter that gave Sam Draper a chance to goal. His kick could only manage a behind however, making the margin 19 at the final break.
Stringer looked to have given Essendon the perfect start to the last with a spear towards the goal square, but teammate Sam Durham touched it before the line.
At the other end, Schache – who’d played a superb game for a big man in the conditions – sent a deft snap to an unmarked Laitham Vandermeer, who nailed the easy set shot to just about get the Doggies home.
From the ensuing centre clearaance, Jayden Laverde was wrapped up by Vandermeer in a superb tackle, but the small forward could only manage a minor score and give the Dons the faintest of hopes.
The Dogs had themselves in the semi-final soon after, however, after Naughton’s great ground-level work set up Hannan for his second.
Bailey Smith added some icing on the cake, while Jake Stringer missed a chance after the siren to give the Bombers their only goal of the second half.
Western Bulldogs – 13.7 (85)
Essendon – 4.12 (36)
Bulldogs: Weightman 4, Naughton 3, Schache 2, Hannan 2, Vandermeer, B. Smith
Bombers: Stringer 2, Smith, Parish
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