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North Melbourne vs Essendon

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

Round: 1   Venue: Docklands   Date: Sat, 31-03-2012 7:45 pm   Crowd: 45,699  
North Melbourne 4.3.278.5.5310.10.7015.12.102 C:  Brad Scott
Essendon 3.2.209.8.6213.14.9214.20.104 C:  James Hird
  NM by 7ESS by 9ESS by 22ESS by 2  
Brownlow Medal 3 Brent Stanton (ESS)2 Daniel Wells (NM)1 Jobe Watson (ESS)

Match Report

North Melbourne ruckman Hamish McIntosh had the chance to give the Kangaroos an unlikely victory when he kicked for a goal after the full-time siren. Unfortunately for McIntosh - who only managed the single game in 2011 due to injury - his set shot went slightly to the right, sending Essendon fans into delirious celebrations. The scenes were reminiscent of the Bombers’ round 20, 2011 clash against Sydney when Adam Goodes missed a shot after the final siren to hand Essendon victory. The Bombers looked to be cruising to victory when they had a 25-point lead in the last quarter, but the Kangaroos kicked four quick goals to close the gap. North had plenty of opportunities in the frantic final minutes but evergreen Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher proved crucial - taking an important pack mark and preventing Kangaroos forward Aaron Edwards from scoring. The often-maligned Brent Stanton was terrific for the Bombers, racking up 35 possessions and providing important pace and run through the midfield. For North, Daniel Wells’ performance was extraordinary, especially considering his life was in the balance during the off-season after doctors discovered a blood clot in his lungs.

GOALS
North Melbourne: Harvey 3; Adams, Edwards, Petrie, Thomas 2; Harper, MacMillan, McIntosh, Wells. Essendon: Hurley, Lovett-Murray, Melksham, Stanton 2; Heppell, Hille, Jetta, McVeigh, Ryder, Watson.

BEST PLAYERS - AFL.COM
North Melbourne: Wells, Swallow, Petrie, Firrito, Adams, Harper, Thomas. Essendon: Stanton, Watson, Heppell, Myers, Hille, Hibberd, Zaharakis.

BEST PLAYERS - THE AGE
Nth Melb: Wells, Swallow, Firrito, Adams, Harvey. Essendon: Stanton, Watson, Ryder, Heppell, Zaharakis, Myers.

COACHES COMMENTS
Brad Scott (NM): I think that the overriding emotion is one of frustration. I think we obviously had our chances in the game, but we had too many lapses in certain periods. We had the chance, in the second quarter, to put a gap between us and them and we weren't able to take those chances.
James Hird (Ess): We need to get better at handling when a team comes at us. We didn’t handle the defensive side of the game well in that last quarter. It's a learning experience and luckily we got away with the four points, and we can move on. But that game will be really important for us to go back and show our players what we did well, but what we didn’t do well in that last quarter.

Umpires: Stevic, Armstrong, Bannister

Official crowd: 45,699 at Etihad Stadium

Source

Match report by Oliver Caffrey

Match stats

North Melbourne
Match Stats
Career
#
Player
K
M
H
D
G
B
HO
T
FF
FA
Age
Games
G
13 Adams, Leigh 9 1 10 19 2 1 0 2 2 2 23y 360d 45 35
4 Anthony, Liam 14 6 9 23 0 0 0 3 1 0 24y 204d 31 15
18 Atley, Shaun 8 2 8 16 0 0 0 1 1 0 19y 200d 17 3
3 Bastinac, Ryan 6 1 12 18 0 0 0 3 3 0 20y 283d 35 10
33 Campbell, Matt 4 2 4 8 0 0 0 4 1 0 25y 70d 68 70
10 Cunnington, Ben 4 1 8 12 0 0 0 6 1 1 20y 275d 35 5
27 Edwards, Aaron 8 5 3 11 2 0 0 1 1 1 28y 29d 74 109
11 Firrito, Michael 9 5 9 18 0 0 0 1 0 0 28y 125d 171 27
22 Goldstein, Todd 5 1 5 10 0 0 18 4 0 2 23y 274d 59 34
23 Harper, Kieran 9 3 6 15 1 1 0 2 4 1 19y 290d 15 13
29 Harvey, Brent 10 3 11 21 3 0 0 0 0 0 33y 322d 324 378
34 Macmillan, Jamie 7 2 3 10 1 0 0 1 0 1 20y 190d 14 4
1 McIntosh, Hamish 7 5 4 11 1 1 10 0 1 2 27y 209d 101 53
42 McMahon, Scott 7 5 8 15 0 0 0 2 0 1 25y 303d 90 27
41 Mullett, Aaron 4 3 8 12 0 0 0 2 1 0 20y 37d 4 0
20 Petrie, Drew 7 6 6 13 2 1 1 3 5 1 29y 168d 200 205
9 Swallow, Andrew 10 2 16 26 0 0 0 5 1 1 24y 303d 107 56
25 Tarrant, Robbie 3 2 2 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 22y 341d 10 1
12 Thomas, Lindsay 17 7 1 18 2 2 0 6 1 1 24y 31d 92 115
16 Thompson, Scott 8 9 7 15 0 0 0 5 3 2 25y 327d 73 3
8 Wells, Daniel 20 5 5 25 1 2 1 0 0 1 27y 57d 171 103
19 Wright, Sam 8 4 9 17 0 0 0 1 0 0 21y 260d 33 34
  Rushed   4  
  Totals 184 80 154 338 15 12 30 53 26 17 24y 178d 1769 1300
Essendon
Match Stats
Career
#
Player
K
M
H
D
G
B
HO
T
FF
FA
Age
Games
G
12 Crameri, Stewart 11 6 9 20 0 5 0 0 0 3 23y 234d 24 34
15 Dempsey, Courtenay 8 4 6 14 0 0 0 4 2 1 24y 216d 55 13
31 Fletcher, Dustin 12 3 2 14 0 0 0 1 1 1 36y 329d 348 68
34 Hardingham, Kyle 3 0 3 6 0 0 0 1 0 1 23y 212d 29 9
21 Heppell, Dyson 13 5 7 20 1 0 0 1 0 1 19y 322d 24 4
43 Hibberd, Michael 10 10 5 15 0 0 0 0 1 2 22y 88d 10 1
19 Hille, David 12 10 6 18 1 1 10 0 1 1 30y 303d 185 144
39 Hocking, Heath 2 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 24y 95d 63 24
26 Hooker, Cale 8 4 5 13 0 0 0 0 0 3 23y 170d 50 5
40 Howlett, Ben 9 1 10 19 0 0 0 8 1 1 23y 162d 39 15
18 Hurley, Michael 6 6 5 11 2 1 0 1 1 2 21y 304d 48 51
7 Jetta, Leroy 9 2 4 13 1 3 0 2 0 0 23y 269d 63 52
42 Lovett-Murray, Nathan 8 3 4 12 2 0 0 2 0 0 29y 134d 126 66
10 McVeigh, Mark 4 3 1 5 1 0 0 1 0 1 31y 65d 230 107
17 Melksham, Jake 12 6 4 16 2 1 1 3 1 2 20y 215d 38 14
6 Monfries, Angus 6 4 8 14 0 1 0 5 1 1 25y 72d 133 147
23 Myers, David 13 5 5 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 22y 275d 37 7
16 Pears, Tayte 4 3 8 12 0 0 0 2 1 2 22y 7d 48 3
30 Ryder, Paddy 13 9 7 20 1 1 33 3 2 2 24y 17d 118 71
5 Stanton, Brent 26 7 9 35 2 0 0 5 4 0 25y 335d 163 105
4 Watson, Jobe 15 10 13 28 1 1 0 1 1 1 27y 52d 133 60
11 Zaharakis, David 18 3 7 25 0 2 0 6 0 1 22y 39d 54 57
  Rushed   3  
  Totals 222 105 128 350 14 20 44 46 17 26 24y 343d 2018 1057

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.