Adelaide Crows
75
Match Complete
Essendon
96
Fourth Quarter | ||||
28:47 | Z. Merrett | |||
T. Lynch | 27:32 | |||
25:54 | D. Heppell | |||
24:07 | M. Brown | |||
21:35 | J. Stringer | |||
H. Greenwood | 19:32 | |||
14:48 | Z. Merrett | |||
H. Greenwood | 9:02 | |||
5:33 | M. Brown | |||
T. Walker | 4:53 | |||
B. Smith | 3:19 | |||
Rushed | 2:09 | |||
1:05 | Z. Merrett | |||
8.11 (59) | Third Quarter [+] | 9.5 (59) | ||
27:59 | A. McGrath | |||
24:57 | M. Brown | |||
19:48 | Z. Merrett | |||
M. Crouch | 18:35 | |||
13:36 | C. Hooker | |||
10:28 | M. Guelfi | |||
8:41 | M. Brown | |||
B. Smith | 4:50 | |||
7.10 (52) | Second Quarter [+] | 5.3 (33) | ||
Rushed | 30:48 | |||
29:07 | C. Hooker | |||
27:04 | J. Stringer | |||
J. Jenkins | 24:47 | |||
B. Smith | 21:44 | |||
B. Smith | 19:36 | |||
Rushed | 18:58 | |||
J. Jenkins | 17:52 | |||
T. Walker | 16:04 | |||
W. Milera | 14:16 | |||
L. Murphy | 11:03 | |||
8:08 | W. Snelling | |||
6:41 | D. Parish | |||
J. Jenkins | 3:01 | |||
1:46 | D. Shiel | |||
2.5 (17) | First Quarter [+] | 1.2 (8) | ||
T. Lynch | 28:00 | |||
J. Jenkins | 25:51 | |||
22:31 | A. McDonald-Tipungwuti | |||
20:46 | Z. Merrett | |||
B. Crouch | 18:15 | |||
E. Betts | 15:24 | |||
T. Lynch | 9:44 | |||
8:17 | A. Francis | |||
Rushed | 5:15 | |||
Rushed | 4:50 |
The Bombers took the game by 21 after a brilliant second half that reversed a five-goal deficit in the second quarter.
Essendon seemed to turn around the midfield contest after half time by taking risks, moving the ball quickly and outrunning the Crows to link play and create chances.
Where in the second quarter the key Crows like Brad Crouch won the ball with ease, and started to find loose men up forward, in the third and fourth quarters the Bombers crowded the midfield and then slung forward at pace to exploit the space in their forward 50.
Midfielders like Zach Merrett, Darcy Parish and Andrew McGrath gut-ran into that space and bobbed up with goals and set-up others for the stay at home forwards Mitch Brown, who kicked four, and Cale Hooker who moved forward in that second half to offer a strong marking option.
Coach John Worsfold will also be heartened by the effort of his defenders, especially in the second half after Hooker was moved forward.
Mason Redman, David Zaharakis, Marty Gleeson and Conor McKenna all had over 20 possessions, while Patrick Ambrose and Michael Hartley were strong in the aerial contests against more experienced (and talented) opponents.
Adelaide had good players on the night – Josh Jenkins kicked three, Brodie Smith was dangerous from the outset and kicked three, Brad Crouch had 35 touches – but for the Crows the loss really sets them back in this campaign.
They will likely finish the round in eighth spot, behind the Bombers on points and dangerously close to arch-rivals Port who are nipping away in ninth.
In contrast this win all but assures Essendon a finals berth, and after their fourth consecutive win they may not be just making up the numbers.
While there are plenty of key players to return for the Bombers, they showed tonight that they have enough ability to challenge the top 8 when they get up and running.
Final score
Adelaide Crows 10.15.75
Essendon Bombers 15.6.96
The Adelaide Crows and the Essendon Bombers are both hoping to continue their momentum when they meet at the Adelaide Oval. Join The Roar for live scores and blog from 7:50pm AEST.
Adelaide took a sword to the hapless Gold Coast Suns last week, beating them by just under 100 points to pull away on percentage from the Bombers in seventh spot. Eddie Betts (six goals) and Josh Jenkins (four) were too much for a threadbare Gold Coast defence.
Ironically the severity of that win may end up costing Adelaide a low draft spot at the end of the season when the AFL considers priority picks (Adelaide have Carlton’s first selection this year).
Big losses add up, and the ease of Adelaide’s victory will be haunting the AFL boardroom when they consider what to do to jump-start the Suns.
This week Adelaide will find goals harder to come by against a generally stout Essendon backline, who have conceded the sixth fewest points this season.
The Bombers are in the middle of a fantastic run of three wins, including a battling victory over North Melbourne where they came back twice to seal victory.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti was the matchwinner again, threading the winner with only a couple of minutes on the clock. Indeed it has been Essendon’s small forwards who have proven the difference in many games this year.
Essendon started this season poorly, but this recent run of good form has coincided with Dylan Shiel’s return to the side to support their core midfield stars like Zach Merrett.
Merrett was superb against North, picking up 34 disposals, seven clearances and six tackles. However, just as Adelaide won’t find goals as easy against the Essendon defence, Merrett, Shiel and company will have to work that much harder against Adelaide’s elite midfield.
Working in Adelaide’s favour is Essendon’s outs, headlined by the injured Michael Hurley who has been their defensive rock all year.
Orazio Fantasia and Jayden Laverde are also out with injuries that dilute their forward options, while journeyman ruck Zac Clarke is also out with an illness.
Dyson Heppell returns for this game to stiffen the midfield, but he is joined by squad players Michael Hartley, Patrick Ambrose and debutant Will Snelling.
In contrast Adelaide make one change, adding another forward option with Tom Lynch returning for Tyson Stengle.
If this game looked even on paper, Essendon’s changes this week do seem to tip the game in Adelaide’s favour.
Adelaide also have a great recent record over Essendon at the Adelaide Oval, recording 10-plus goal victories over the Bombers in their last two outings.
This game should be much closer than that, and will probably go in favour of the team that wins the midfield arm wrestle.
Prediction
A win to the Bombers would be a massive statement for their finals legitimacy. With ninth-placed side Port Adelaide dropping away last week, a win to the Bombers would go a long way to ensure finals footy and silence a certain Twitter troll-account.
But Adelaide should have too much firepower and midfield grit to see that happen, especially with a Michael Hurley sized hole in the Essendon backline.
Adelaide by 12 points.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
But has there EVER been a statistic SO bad. We're negative % against an aggregate of ALL the OTHER teams. Seriously I can't stand Pyke. There is a rotten fish team thing going on. We could do with Allan Jeans, Neil Kerley or Neil Balme right about now.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
A humble note Geoff. You sound objective . Arguably Adelaide at 30 up should have hung on to the lead . My observation is they just didnt control the outside of the corridor so well . Lot of tall payers got done by Essendons pace. A few teams have noted this about Essendon and shut it down this season namely West Coast and Geelong
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
It ain’t fair some sides get to play the Suns twice
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Guess I'm looking at it through Crows glasses - the Bombers were quicker to the ball and pretty efficient with it in the second half - in fact they were impressive so apologies if I sounded dismissive. I don't really look at the ins and outs - but with who was on the field last night it appeared the Bombers wanted the win more than the Crows which is difficult to stomach as an Adelaide supporter
Grand-Dag
Guest
Have become perturbed by the over use of the word 'courageous'. In a game of football a player is often awarded this tag for doing something which is dangerous for himself and others. This should be called dangerous or stupid, or both. A team playing well, coming from behind or hanging on by a slender margin has not done something courageous, it has played a game of footy. There plenty of adjectives in the English language to describe the ability or the outcome of a match, and courageous is not one that should be used lightly or wrongly. So there!!
Pierro
Roar Rookie
With 5 to 6 key/essential players out of the essendon line up, arguably 3 of of best , away from home and heppell carrying a foot injury, hmm not sure your on the mark with that chestnut Geoff. Bombers doing very well all considering arguably deserve their spot after two injustice losses to swans with a gold post climber denying a winning free kick and the anzac day umpiring sham against the woods where we went down by four. That would have taken Essendon second tonight but on merit essendon probably deserve to be where they are around 6th given the losses to geelong, west coast and richmond all be it with a lot of injuries for those games too
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
InacuraceeInaccuracy cost the Crows badly. Some of the Bombers movement was breathtaking but the Crows had no-one to run with them and the lack of work put into the Essendon forwards meant that they were still fresh later in the gameJamesH
Roar Guru
Normally they would just say the ball is still in play. Live ball isn’t overly common terminology in AFL.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Dogs are a bogey team for us. That will be a tough contest.
JamesH
Roar Guru
49 tackles in a tight game is a pretty damning stat.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
MATCH REPORT: The Bombers take the game by 21 after brilliant second half that reversed the 5 goal deficit in the second quarter. The Bombers seemed to turn around the midfield contest after half time by taking risks, moving the ball quickly and outrunning the Crows to link play and create chances. Where in the second quarter the key Crows like Brad Crouch won the ball with ease, and started to find loose men up forward, in the third and fourth quarters the Bombers crowded the midfield and then slung forward at pace to exploit the space in their forward 50. Midfielders like Zach Merrett, Darcy Parish and Andrew McGrath gut-ran into that space and bobbed up with goals and set-up others for the stay at home forwards Mitch Brown, who kicked 4, and Cale Hooker who moved forward in that second half to offer a strong marking option. Coach Worsfold will also be heartened by the effort of his defenders, especially in the second half after Hooker was moved forward. Redman, Zaharakis, Gleeson and McKenna all had over 20 possessions, while Ambrose and Hartley were strong in the aerial contests against more experienced (and talented) opponents. Adelaide had good players on the night – Jenkins kicked 3, Brodie Smith was dangerous from the outset and kicked 3, Brad Crouch had 35 touches – but for the Crows the loss really sets them back in this campaign. They will likely finish the round in 8th spot, behind the Bombers on points and dangerously close to arch rivals Port who are nipping away in 9th. In contrast this win all but assures Essendon a finals berth, and after their 4th consecutive they may not be just making up the numbers. While there are plenty of key players to return for the Bombers, they showed tonight that they have enough ability to challenge the top 8 when they get up and running. MAN OF THE MATCH was Zach Merrett, in an epic second half performance. He went from nearly anonymous in the first half to finishing with 31 touches (11 contested) and 2 goals. It was an inspiring second half from Merrett who set the tone for his teammates with his running, and his skill finish the chances he created was sublime
Powa
Roar Rookie
my mob are worse for that than the dons, its frustrating because ports best is as good as collingwood, the eagles or geelong, but then so is the bombers
Powa
Roar Rookie
I honestly have no idea how the crows are even in the 8, do they just reliably beat the sides they should?
Rissole
Roar Rookie
Courageous win by the Bombers. Hooker in defense, Adelaide 52 - Essendon 21. Hooker in attack, Adelaide 23 - Essendon 75. Just leave him there. Massive month of big wins, now we do Essendon things and lose to Gold Coast.
Birdman
Roar Rookie
Crows looking a bit threadbare up forward and back. Apologies to Jenkins and Talia who did their bit tonight. Those first half behinds came back to haunt them.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
I wouldn't be reading too much into the Bombers win - Adelaide didn't provide much of a contest in the second half - becoming a habit lately
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Team stats are mostly even. Adelaide just shaded the possessions (424 v 405), but the Bombers took hold of the contested possessions, winning those 152 to 141 and tackles 66 v 49.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
For the Bombers Mitch Brown ended an excellent game (or half) with 4. Stringer and Merrett kicked 2 and singles to Guelfi, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Snelling, Hooker, Heppell and McGrath. Jenkins kicked 4 for the Crows, Smith kicked 3 and Greenwood, Lynch and Walker each kicked 1.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Its embarrassing supporting the Crows - you would hope that there is a clean out at the end of the season - but I won't be holding my breath
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
We got beat by a team missing a swag of players. ---- The worst stat for the Crows is that we are 265% against the Suns (2 games) and 98% 7 and 7 against the rest. Hopeless. ---- Plus 2nd half fade outs against Weagles, Port & Bombers. @ H.O.M.E. ---- I hope we finish outside of the 8. The only way Pyke will go.