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Essendon vs Melbourne

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

Round: 6   Venue: Docklands   Date: Sun, 30-04-2017 1:10 pm   Crowd: 44,040  
Essendon 2.2.144.8.326.12.4810.14.74 C:  John Worsfold
Melbourne 2.4.164.6.3012.9.8117.10.112 C:  Simon Goodwin
  MELB by 2ESS by 2MELB by 33MELB by 38  
Weather
min temp  13.6°C      max temp  17.8°C
rainfall  0mm    humidity  51%    air pressure  1020.7mb
wind speed 11km/h      wind direction  NNW
Brownlow Medal 3 Tom McDonald (MELB)2 Jordan Lewis (MELB)1 Clayton Oliver (MELB)

Match Report

Melbourne had replaced Essendon in the top eight, after it defeated the Bombers by 38 points at Docklands on Sunday. The match was a lacklustre affair in the first half, marred by numerous mistakes and turnovers, but the Demons got their act together in the third quarter, kicking eight goals to two to set up what in the end proved to be a comfortable win. The Bombers' chances of winning were derailed by poor kicking for goal, with Joe Daniher the main offender, kicking 1.6.

The match got off to a slow start the first six minutes seeing only two behinds kicked by Melbourne before Darcy Parish broke the drought with a lovely roving goal to put Essendon four points ahead. The Demons responded with a goal to Jeff Garlett at the eight-minute mark, and when Jack Watts followed up with his first, it was Melbourne by eight points. The Bombers responded almost immediately through Orazio Fantasia, but the remainder of the quarter saw only behinds kicked, and it was Melbourne by two points at quarter time. 

Melbourne added another behind through Mitch Hannan in the first minute of the second term, and then extended its lead to nine points when Christian Petracca marked and goaled two minutes later. Joe Daniher's goalkicking nightmare then began. He had three shots at goal over the next 10 minutes, and missed them all. The Bombers finally hit the target when Fantasia kicked his second, but then missed two more through McDonald-Tipungwuti and Daniher again. The Demons them missed through Watts but a goal to Andrew McGrath - the first of his AFL career - had the Bombers ahead by seven points after 24 minutes. Petracca's second had the margin back to a point, but Daniher's fifth miss of the quarter had Essendon ahead by two at the long break.

Another Essendon behind marked the opening of the third quarter, but a goal to Garlett at the three-minute mark sparked the Demons, and follow-up majors from Tom McDonald and Watts saw them jump to a 16-point lead. Daniher missed yet another set shot but the umpire recalled his kick and he finally kicked accurately to cut the margin to 10 points. Each side added another goal over the next two minutes, but Melbourne exploded in the time-on period, with goals to Cameron Pedersen, Garlett, Hannan and Watts saw the Demons go into the last break in control and 33 points ahead. 

Many thoughts of an Essendon comeback in the final term were dispelled in the first four minutes when Jack Watts and Mitch Hannan kicked further majors to extend Melbourne's lead to 45 points. The Bombers fought out the match, kicking four goals to three over the remainder of the quarter but the Demons cruised to a win that saw the replace Essendon in eighth spot, the Dons slipping top 10th on the ladder.

Tom McDonald played a fine game for the Demons, collecting 26 touches and taking 12 marks. For the Bombers, Michael Hurley (13 marks, 23 disposals) was a key contributor.

Melbourne will fancy its chances against Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday, the once mighty Hawks second-last on the ladder with just one win, while Essendon will travel to Perth to take on Fremantle at Subiaco on the same day. 

GOALS
Essendon: Fantasia, Hooker 2; Parish, McGrath, Daniher, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Colyer, Bellchambers
Melbourne: Petracca, Watts 4; Hannan, Garlett 3; McDonald, Pedersen, Lewis

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Essendon: Goddard, Hurley, Merrett, McGrath, Gleeson
Melbourne: T. McDonald, Petracca, Lewis, Oliver, Hibberd, Pedersen

BEST - THE AGE
Essendon: Hurley, Goddard, Dea, McGrath, Heppell, Merrett
Melbourne: Petracca, Watts, Oliver, Lewis, T. McDonald, Garlett, Pedersen, Hibberd

INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Melbourne: Nil

UMPIRES: Haussen, Nicholls, Hay

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Jason Dunstall, Brad Johnson, Cameron Mooney

Source

Match Report by Andrew Gigacz

Match stats

Essendon Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
12 Baguley, Mark 12 9 2 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 29y 344d 88 3
2 Bellchambers, Tom 7 7 2 9 1 0 33 2 1 1 27y 295d 80 54
28 Brown, Mitch 5 6 5 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 26y 245d 40 29
32 Colyer, Travis 14 9 6 20 1 1 0 1 1 0 25y 249d 63 45
6 Daniher, Joe 12 13 5 17 1 6 9 2 2 2 23y 57d 76 121
49 Dea, Matt 11 7 6 17 0 0 0 3 3 1 25y 199d 53 1
13 Fantasia, Orazio 5 4 4 9 2 0 0 1 0 1 21y 228d 33 47
8 Gleeson, Martin 14 6 4 18 0 0 0 1 0 1 22y 248d 55 4
9 Goddard, Brendon 17 5 14 31 0 0 0 3 1 0 31y 345d 295 154
15 Green, Josh 7 3 6 13 0 0 0 2 1 2 24y 249d 85 110
21 Heppell, Dyson 15 8 7 22 0 0 0 3 1 0 24y 351d 112 37
26 Hooker, Cale 4 5 7 11 2 1 3 4 1 1 28y 199d 139 39
40 Howlett, Ben 9 4 5 14 0 1 0 3 1 1 28y 191d 119 57
18 Hurley, Michael 19 13 4 23 0 0 0 1 0 0 26y 333d 125 105
43 McDonald-Tipungwuti, Anthony 8 4 5 13 1 2 0 5 0 1 24y 8d 27 15
1 McGrath, Andrew 16 6 7 23 1 0 0 3 1 0 18y 332d 6 1
45 McKenna, Conor 14 9 7 21 0 0 0 1 2 3 21y 33d 16 5
41 McNiece, Ben 6 2 8 14 0 0 0 2 2 0 25y 39d 2 0
7 Merrett, Zach 23 3 9 32 0 0 0 3 0 0 21y 209d 65 23
3 Parish, Darcy 5 2 6 11 1 0 0 2 0 0 19y 279d 26 8
4 Watson, Jobe 8 4 5 13 0 0 0 1 1 1 32y 81d 206 111
11 Zaharakis, David 17 9 0 17 0 1 0 3 0 1 27y 68d 153 105
  Rushed   2  
  Totals 248 138 124 372 10 14 45 46 18 17 25y 142d 1864 1074
Melbourne Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
32 Bugg, Tomas 8 1 5 13 0 1 0 2 1 0 24y 25d 85 23
17 Frost, Sam 12 6 4 16 0 0 0 3 3 0 23y 245d 43 7
36 Garlett, Jeff 6 3 2 8 3 0 0 3 1 0 27y 270d 152 267
19 Hannan, Mitch 9 5 5 14 3 1 0 3 0 0 23y 52d 5 6
14 Hibberd, Michael 16 6 8 24 0 0 0 1 1 1 27y 117d 86 12
29 Hunt, Jayden 13 5 3 16 0 1 0 2 1 3 22y 27d 25 5
39 Jetta, Neville 6 4 6 12 0 0 0 3 1 1 27y 77d 100 23
2 Jones, Nathan 12 4 18 30 0 0 0 2 2 1 29y 100d 229 108
24 Kennedy Harris, Jay 4 2 7 11 0 0 0 1 0 3 22y 40d 24 11
6 Lewis, Jordan 15 7 15 30 1 0 0 2 0 2 31y 6d 267 146
28 McDonald, Oscar 11 8 4 15 0 0 0 2 0 0 21y 43d 21 0
25 McDonald, Tom 17 12 9 26 1 0 6 1 1 2 24y 224d 110 10
18 Melksham, Jake 11 4 3 14 0 1 0 1 1 1 25y 244d 120 57
30 Neal-Bullen, Alex 2 1 8 10 0 0 0 2 1 1 21y 111d 21 11
13 Oliver, Clayton 8 5 25 33 0 0 0 5 1 1 19y 282d 19 6
21 Pedersen, Cameron 11 8 8 19 1 2 18 0 2 1 30y 44d 62 52
5 Petracca, Christian 8 5 3 11 4 0 0 1 0 0 21y 116d 23 23
3 Salem, Christian 14 5 8 22 0 0 0 2 0 0 21y 289d 36 11
12 Tyson, Dom 19 9 10 29 0 1 0 2 0 0 23y 326d 76 38
23 Vince, Bernie 16 5 12 28 0 0 0 1 0 0 31y 210d 198 111
7 Viney, Jack 9 1 10 19 0 0 0 6 0 0 23y 17d 76 20
4 Watts, Jack 13 5 6 19 4 1 1 3 1 1 26y 35d 143 133
  Rushed   2  
  Totals 240 111 179 419 17 10 25 48 17 18 24y 331d 1921 1080

Match highlights

Joe Daniher kicked 6 behinds for Essendon against Melbourne (AFL, Premiership Season, R6)
Clayton Oliver had 25 handballs for Melbourne vs. Essendon (AFL, Premiership Season, R6)
Neville Jetta played his 100th V/AFL game: Melbourne vs. Essendon (AFL, Premiership Season, R6)

Footnotes

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