Zach Merrett started inside the forward 50 at the start of the second half.

Joe Daniher kicked his fifth goal in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but the Bulldogs kicked the next three to take a 15 point lead.

Two goals in a minute to Orazio Fantasia and Travis Colyer cut the margin to two points at the 20 minutes mark of the third quarter.

Nearing three quarter time the Bombers had kicked three goals from centre clearances. The Dogs also had ten centre clearances at that point for a return of one goal.

The Bulldogs kicked the last three goals of the third term to take a 19 point lead into the last quarter.

The Dogs kicked 7.1 to Essendon’s 4.5 in the third quarter.

The Bombers had all the territory at the start of the last quarter but could only manage three points before Daniher plucked one in goal square and kicked his sixth goal to reduce the margin to ten points with 13 minutes to play.

The Dons continued to rally and a goal to Orazio Fantasia with four minutes left cut the margin to six points before a free kick to Marcus Bontempelli saw the Dogs back out to a 12 point lead with 2:24 left.

A snap out of the pack to Caleb Daniel sealed the result just 30 seconds later.