Essendon has returned to the winner’s list and solidified a top-four position with a 94-point thrashing of Coburg at Windy Hill in round 10.
The Bombers had to tough it out early against the Lions, who made it clear that they had come to play and weren’t afraid to attack the contest. Nonetheless, a pair of goals to Travis Colyer and Aaron Heppell in a minute prised a 25-point Essendon buffer at half-time.
The third quarter was an all-round team performance as hard run, relentless pressure and numbers both around and forward of the ball saw Essendon seize control.
In an inspired power play, the Bombers slammed on 8.4 to Coburg’s solitary goal to put the result to bed before keeping the foot on the accelerator with another five majors in the last quarter.
AFL Bombers Travis Colyer and James Stewart both delivered impressive performances against Coburg. Colyer’s explosive run was a turning point as the match went from trench warfare to a one-way red and black landslide, while Stewart provided a strong marking option playing as a key forward and was crucial in the Bombers’ second half dominance.
Captain Heath Hocking played across the midfield and high in the forward line and was the highest goal-kicker along with Jackson Merrett with three (Danny Younan, Jake McQueen and Aaron Heppell all kicked two). Defender Aaron Francis’ high-leaping marking once again was a feature of the Bombers’ counter-attack.
Dylan Clarke’s (38 touches) and Kobe Mutch’s (33) ball-winning was crucial in the first half when the game was up for grabs, while half-back Ben McNiece improved as the game went on, providing agility and rebound in the second half.
The Bombers celebrated an outstanding maiden win for Nino Lazzaro and debutant Luke Collins, both of whom kicked their first goal for Essendon against the Lions.
Coach Dan Jordan said his side responded to the challenges they faced in the first half.
“I was happy with the four quarters in terms of consistency, but our second quarter wasn’t great, so we just had to clean up a few things in terms of entry and how we were moving the footy,” Jordan said.
Essendon is in third place with six wins and now faces its second bye for the season in Round 11, Jordan says his team is meeting its targets ahead of a challenging fixture.
“We set ourselves for the last six-week block to have a really good tilt at getting results and I think we’ve finished at five and one,” Jordan said.
“We’ve got a really tough month coming up, so it’ll be a really great test to see where we’re at and being really consistent against whatever team we come up against.”
ESSENDON 5.4 7.10 15.15 20.17 (137)
COBURG 2.1 4.3 5.3 6.7 (43)
GOALS
Essendon – Merrett 3, Hocking 3, Younan 2, Heppell 2, McQueen 2, Collins, Colyer, Lazzaro, Mutch, Houlahan, Stewart, Hartley, Long.
Coburg – McEvoy 2, Podhajski 2, Orr, Binion.
BEST
Colyer, Francis, Heppell, Mutch, Stewart, Hocking.
