Essendon fell to its fourth defeat in as many matches after fading out in the second half against the Southern Saints at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
The Bombers struggled to contain the Saints’ forward transition after a promising first quarter. The match fell out of Essendon’s control in the final quarter as the Saints slammed on 4.3 to no score to have the four points comfortably in their keeping by the final siren.
The Bombers capitalised on the wind in the first quarter with Alex Quigley slotting her side’s first. However, the Saints conducted a fusillade when they had their turn and only highly efficient work inside-50 (Quigley and Beth Kearney kicked goals from Essendon’s three forward entries) limited the Essendon deficit to eight points at the main break.
The third quarter was a protracted crossroads moment for the Bombers. Lisa Williams, Irena Malliaras and Hayley Bullas won the ball in the engine room and provided a barrage of forward entry but a wasteful return of 0.5 saw such dominance amount to nought.
To really twist the knife in, Courtney Munn converted from the Saints’ lone entry for the term. After a quarter of having all the chances, Essendon now trailed by more than when it had started.
The Saints struck twice in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to puncture the Bombers’ fight. A 50-metre penalty after the final siren pushed the margin out to 36 points and summed up Brendan Major’s side’s day.
Courtney Ugle’s fanatical attack on the ball across the midfield was a highlight across the four quarters, while Malliaras had her best game yet for Essendon.
Major said the Bombers fell well short of their best.
“It was disappointing, because we know we can play better,” Major said.
“We had a solid start but lacked composure.
“The effort is there, but the Saints were quicker and slicker for larger parts of the day.”
The Bombers take on Richmond in round six next Saturday at the Swinburne Centre from 4pm.
ESSENDON 1.1 3.1 3.6 3.6.24
SOUTHERN SAINTS 0.1 4.3 5.3 9.6.60
GOALS:
Essendon – Quigley 2, Kearney
Southern Saints – Munn 2, Ripari, E Brown, A Brown, De Angelis, Drennan, Bohanna, Johnson
