Essendon Coach John Worsfold has praised the performance of Dyson Heppell following the Bombers eight-point win over Carlton.
The Bombers Captain picked up 34 disposals (15 contested), took ten marks, laid six tackles, had six clearances, four inside 50s and four rebounds from the defensive 50.
He also kicked a crucial set shot goal from outside the 50 metre arc in the third quarter.
“I thought he really did stand up,” Worsfold said.
“Dyson in the third quarter steadied the ship with a real clutch goal from outside 50 when everyone else was spraying them.
“There were a couple of big standout out contests, back with the flight marks and it really set the tone for the boys to follow which is great leadership.”
Essendon was in excellent form early recording ten scoring shots to three in the opening term to lead by 22 points at the first change.
Carlton controlled much of the second term for a return of two goals, but the most significant damage came in the third quarter when the Blues kicked 5.1 to 2.6.
“The first quarter was played the way we wanted the game to look,” Worsfold said.
“Then that dried up and we played the Carlton type of game pretty much, which is pretty slow and it gave them time to get their numbers back inside our forward line which meant a lot of our shots were really pressured or from wide.
“To their credit they got the game the way they wanted it but I thought the boys responded really cleverly in the last quarter … to create those late scoring opportunities to win the game.
“To do what we had to do to win like that in the end was a credit to the players.”
Worsfold said the Bombers intensity dropped off after the blistering start to the match.
“The game was on their terms, we weren’t kicking well for goal and then we were really undisciplined two or three times which we nearly paid the ultimate price for,” he said.
“We have to work hard to play our best footy for longer periods.
“That’s our challenge at the moment.
“If that means our season extends out into finals that’ll be great because hopefully we're improving right up until then and we’ll look forward to what that opens up for us.”
The Bombers are in eighth spot on the ladder but could fall to ninth depending on the outcome of the match between St Kilda and West Coast on Sunday.
