After a narrow defeat to Southport in round four, Essendon VFL rebounded to record a key 12-point win over Collingwood on Saturday.

The Anzac Round clash provided a shot of confidence for a Bombers' VFL outfit that continues to improve week-on-week, finally adding a result to the win column this season.

For Senior Coach Blake Caracella, the Dons' ability to halt Collingwood's momentum and hit the scoreboard in critical moments didn't go unnoticed.

"We’ve played some really good footy across the opening five games and our second halves just haven’t been quite as good," Caracella said.

"That Southport loss was one that could’ve gone our way, so it’s been a real focus to even out our performance and get more consistent over four quarters.

"When we were challenged and Collingwood got in front with 10 minutes left, it wasn’t looking great, but the boys just dug in and found the momentum to get forward and hit the scoreboard when we needed to.

"It’s a really great reward for the players who’ve worked really hard and continue to improve week-on-week, they were excited after the game and deserved to be."

Caracella delved into the individual performances of the Bombers' AFL-listed contingent, including the return of Matt Guelfi and another step in the right direction for draftees Vigo Visentini and Archie Roberts.

Elijah Tsatas

40 disposals, four marks, four tackles, five clearances

Elijah obviously won a heap of the footy and his hands in close were really good.

He looked to be quite creative with a lot of his touches and he showed that when he set up Guelfi for the game-winning goal with an important hard ball win in the middle of the ground. We were really pleased with his effort. 

Dylan Shiel

24 disposals, five marks, five clearances, one goal 

‘Shiely’ copped a big knock early in the game and had to get his nose straightened up, so to play through that hinderance was a good effort.

His leadership in the midfield has been solid for a few weeks and it’s really been felt amongst the group, he was a major contributor to the win on the weekend and kicked a nice goal as well.

Sam Weideman

15 disposals, five marks

 ‘Weids’ was really good in defence last week and he backed that up again, he looks really strong down there at the moment.

He’ll get better as a defender week-by-week, learning little nuances and picking up tools given he hasn’t played down back much in the past.

For someone with little experience there, we’re looking forward to seeing how good a defender he can actually become for us. 

Lewis Hayes

19 disposals, four marks, three tackles

‘Hayesy’s going really well, he’s put together three or four great games in a row.

He’s again playing on a mix of tall and small opponents, which has provided a good learning experience for him – he’s still got no problems finding the footy either, so he’s becoming a really consistent performer for us. 

Nick Bryan

37 hit-outs, 20 disposals, five marks, four clearances

Nick dominated in the ruck again.

He got around the ground and took five marks for the game, which is what we’re really looking for him to do in addition to his work at stoppages.

He had an influence in transition for us and had a couple of opportunities in front of goal, so he’s really growing every week.

Nate Caddy

Nine disposals, four marks 

Probably a bit of a quieter game for ‘Cads’ this week as we had the ball going through the hands of a few different forward targets.

With that, he still had a couple of shots and there were some important pieces of play in the final quarter where he competed really strongly, made his presence felt and helped us get some critical goals on the board.

Luamon Lual

19 disposals, four marks

‘Luey’ is coming along pretty nicely at this level.

He’s starting to find a good balance of attack and defence, he obviously loves to join the run going forward and he’s tracking back to support as well.

All our half-backs had a tough ask this week with Collingwood’s nifty small forwards, and he was able to get his job done and provide rebound for us. 

Matt Guelfi

16 disposals, six marks, four tackles, one goal

For ‘Guelf’ to come back and play well after a month off (from injury) was really promising.

He won a lot of really important contests both in the air and on the ground late in the game, and kicked a big goal to put us back in front.

He connected really well with a lot of the VFL boys on the weekend and he’ll be putting his hand up for a senior recall soon. 

Jayden Davey

Eight disposals, one goal

We speak to the players a lot around how you might not have a heap of the ball, but when a moment or two pops up, you can be ready to impact.

Jayden made a big smother, weaved out of traffic and kicked a steadier when we were under the pump in that third quarter and it gave us a bit of flow back, it was fantastic for him and the team. 

Archie Roberts

22 disposals, seven tackles, six marks, two goals

‘Robbo’s going really well in that wing role, getting forward to score and lending a hand in defence.

He laid some massive tackles on Saturday, especially in the final quarter chasing down players in front of goal – he’s up for the fight.

He’s coming along well and learning a strong balance of inside and outside play.

Vigo Visentini

15 disposals, six marks, six hit-outs, one goal

‘Vigs’ goes really under the radar for some people watching the game, he does a lot of little things and one-percenters that go a long way.

For a period in the last quarter, we needed him to get in the ruck and it was probably the best eight minutes of footy he’s played for the year, taking big marks on the wing and getting involved on the ground.

Big players can take a while to develop, but he’s already showing the signs that he’s started his journey.

Tex Wanganeen

Seven disposals, four marks, one goal

Tex was lively, he’s coming back from a long-term injury and building his game fitness every week, but you can see he’s got real electric capability around goal and in the tackle.

He kicked a neat goal for us in that first quarter to get us going when we weren’t playing too well, so that’ll be good for his confidence.

VFL notes

Our backs were really good, they probably got exposed a touch in that first quarter but once they locked away after the break, they were fantastic in both halving and winning some big one-on-one contests.

They stopped the run and provided counter-attack from the last line, so in terms of both the VFL and AFL-listed defenders, we’re loving the synergy they’re working with at the moment.

We had good contributions across the board, Solly McKay took some huge marks down the stretch and Bailey Scott went back to provide real speed and carry out of the back half.

Jack Peris is another one who just works his ass off all day – offensively and defensively, he’s a real team player.

You can see the players getting more confident with each experience they get at this level. Whether it’s the young players or more experienced types like Tom Toma, you can see in the results that our performance is getting better and better.

We've got the bye this week and we'll look ahead to taking on a good opponent in Williamstown the following week.