AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game
Brownlow Medal | 3 Scott Thompson (ADEL) | 2 Brendon Goddard (ESS) | 1 Dyson Heppell (ESS) |
Once again, in the face of intense media and public speculation and scrutiny associated with the long-running ASADA saga, Essendon has stared down adversity to pull out a win against the odds in its match against Adelaide on Saturday night. The Dons started the match with a bang, kicking seven of the game's first eight goals to jump out to 33-point lead before Patrick Dangerfield scored a late major to reduce the difference to 27 at quarter time.
The Crows tried hard to work their way into the match in the second term, with Taylor Walker kicking the first of the quarter but the rest of the term was an even affair, each side scoring two goals for the remainder and the margin at half time was still 19 points in favour of Essendon.
Essendon extended that margin to 36 points half way through the third quarter and looked to be headed for a comfortable victory but the Crows dominated the play for the remainder of the term and early in the last quarter to kick four consecutive goals and reduce the difference to just nine points at the one-minute mark. But a goal to Ben Howlett steadied the ship for Essendon and the Bombers went on to take the margin out to 27 points. The Crows did kick the last three goals of the match but the result was never really beyond doubt, with the Dons winning by nine points.
Brendon Goddard played a great game for the Bombers, with 12 marks and 32 disposals, as did Michael Hibberd (30 touches and six marks) and Dyson Heppell (27 possessions and five marks). For the Crows, Scott Thompson (41 possessions, seven tackles), Sam Jacobs (35 hitouts, nine marks) and Josh Jenkins (four goals) flew the flag for four quarters.
The win keeps Essendon's finals hopes alive with the Dons only a game behind the bottom three of the top eight - Collingwood, North Melbourne and Gold Coast - with a better percentage than the Suns. Their next match will be against fifth-placed Geelong on Friday night. The loss was damaging for the Crows, leaving them in 11th place and two games away from the top eight, with a match against top team Port to come in next Sunday's Showdown.
GOALS
Essendon: Stanton, Ryder, Winderlich 2; Hocking, Ambrose, Goddard, Daniher, Zaharakis, Melksham, Howlett, Colyer, Hurley
Adelaide: Jenkins 4; Betts 3; Walker, Podsiadly 2; Dangerfield, Smith, Martin
BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
Essendon: Goddard, Hibberd, Heppell, Melksham, Hooker, Hurley
Adelaide: Thompson, Jenkins, Betts, Wright
BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Essendon: Hibberd, Goddard, Heppell, Melksham, Hooker, Hocking
Adelaide: Thompson, Jenkins, Wright, Jacobs, Betts, Walker
INJURIES
Essendon: Hibberd (left leg)
Adelaide: Mackay (concussion), Dangerfield (corked quad)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Zach Merrett replaced Tom Bellchambers in the third quarter
Adelaide: Jarryd Lyons replaced David Mackay (concussion) in the third quarter
UMPIRES: Chamberlain, McInerney, O'Gorman
TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network
COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Matthew Richardson, Tim Watson, Cameron Mooney
Video sourced from YouTube, courtesy of AFL Media.
Essendon | Match Stats | Career | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Player | K | M | H | D | G | B | HO | T | FF | FA | Age | Games | G |
47 | Ambrose, Patrick | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 22y 293d | 8 | 5 |
12 | Baguley, Mark | 6 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 27y 31d | 41 | 2 |
2 | Bellchambers, Tom | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24y 347d | 66 | 50 |
32 | Colyer, Travis | 12 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 22y 301d | 36 | 23 |
6 | Daniher, Joe | 7 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20y 109d | 18 | 19 |
15 | Dempsey, Courtenay | 9 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 26y 297d | 96 | 25 |
31 | Fletcher, Dustin | 5 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39y 45d | 389 | 70 |
9 | Goddard, Brendon | 23 | 12 | 9 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 29y 32d | 238 | 132 |
21 | Heppell, Dyson | 15 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 22y 38d | 75 | 17 |
1 | Hibberd, Michael | 21 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 24y 169d | 57 | 7 |
39 | Hocking, Heath | 6 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26y 176d | 109 | 38 |
26 | Hooker, Cale | 14 | 7 | 8 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25y 251d | 101 | 7 |
40 | Howlett, Ben | 9 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 25y 243d | 87 | 44 |
18 | Hurley, Michael | 11 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24y 20d | 90 | 100 |
28 | Kavanagh, Elliott | 7 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21y 33d | 6 | 2 |
17 | Melksham, Jake | 11 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 22y 296d | 91 | 48 |
27 | Merrett, Zach | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18y 261d | 10 | 6 |
23 | Myers, David | 12 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 24y 356d | 74 | 22 |
30 | Ryder, Paddy | 9 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26y 99d | 160 | 107 |
5 | Stanton, Brent | 14 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 28y 51d | 216 | 143 |
8 | Winderlich, Jason | 10 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29y 254d | 119 | 77 |
11 | Zaharakis, David | 11 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 24y 120d | 100 | 83 |
Rushed | 7 | |||||||||||||
Totals | 225 | 107 | 151 | 376 | 15 | 11 | 33 | 58 | 11 | 14 | 25y 124d | 2187 | 1027 |
Adelaide | Match Stats | Career | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Player | K | M | H | D | G | B | HO | T | FF | FA | Age | Games | G |
18 | Betts, Eddie | 11 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 27y 207d | 197 | 314 |
16 | Brown, Luke | 8 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 21y 272d | 37 | 2 |
32 | Dangerfield, Patrick | 5 | 2 | 16 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 24y 77d | 122 | 138 |
26 | Douglas, Richard | 14 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27y 135d | 146 | 104 |
24 | Jacobs, Sam | 10 | 9 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26y 72d | 95 | 18 |
10 | Jaensch, Matthew | 15 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 24y 276d | 58 | 23 |
4 | Jenkins, Josh | 8 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25y 133d | 39 | 61 |
17 | Kerridge, Sam | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21y 56d | 25 | 21 |
29 | Laird, Rory | 6 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20y 174d | 29 | 3 |
31 | Lyons, Jarryd | 5 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21y 334d | 17 | 7 |
14 | Mackay, David | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25y 331d | 118 | 37 |
36 | Martin, Brodie | 9 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25y 227d | 26 | 6 |
22 | Otten, Andy | 7 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25y 37d | 73 | 18 |
1 | Podsiadly, James | 8 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 32y 284d | 96 | 186 |
3 | Reilly, Brent | 14 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30y 221d | 201 | 52 |
25 | Rutten, Ben | 5 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31y 24d | 225 | 8 |
9 | Sloane, Rory | 9 | 1 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 24y 96d | 91 | 53 |
33 | Smith, Brodie | 13 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 22y 158d | 67 | 16 |
12 | Talia, Daniel | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22y 262d | 67 | 4 |
5 | Thompson, Scott | 19 | 6 | 22 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 31y 99d | 258 | 149 |
13 | Walker, Taylor | 9 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24y 57d | 75 | 173 |
11 | Wright, Matthew | 19 | 10 | 7 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24y 189d | 70 | 51 |
Totals | 210 | 94 | 167 | 377 | 14 | 8 | 41 | 54 | 14 | 11 | 25y 186d | 2132 | 1444 |