Essendon VFL has catapulted to equal first on the VFL ladder after grinding out a gutsy 11-point win over a determined Port Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.

In a contest that saw neither side establish any ascendency, the biggest margin of the afternoon was just 16 points.

Both teams fired shot-for-shot going goal-for-goal until the 11^th minute mark of the second term when the Bombers broke away from the tide to score consecutive goals through Ben Howlett and Jon Giles.

But it seemed to be the motivator for Port Melbourne, as they kicked the next three goals of the match to wrestle back the deficit back and lead by four points at the main break.

“We were a little bit off with our accountability and playing that one-on-one brand football,” Coach Paul Corrigan said.

“We tried to get that back in the third quarter and carried it on in the last, and I felt we got what we wanted and that helped with the result at the end of the day.”

The Dons managed to turn it around after halftime, making the most of their opportunities to outscore Port Melbourne in the second half.

Corrigan admitted he was fully aware the Bombers were going to be up for a tough afternoon from the first bounce.

“It was one of those days where you knew we were going to get on top for a little bit, then they would get things their way for a little bit as well.”

“It was always going to be a tough game against a quality side and I just thought we handled it a little better later in the game and we were able to score and hold on.”

Playing assistant coach Kyle Hardingham was terrific on his return from injury, taking an astonishing 13 marks, as well as gathering 21 disposals. The former AFL listed Bomber hovered throughout the backline and genereated many chains of attack forward.

Heath Hocking got though his first game in nine months with flying colours. The hard-nosed midfielder was crucial to the win, playing out the full game with 18 touches and two goals.

“It was really good to see Buddha get through pretty much a full game in the end, which was fantastic,” said Corrigan.

David Zaharakis showed no signs of an ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six weeks. He was back to his brilliant best racking up 28 possessions in a performance worthy of a senior recall.

While Ben Howlett responded well to being left out of the AFL team, laying a massive 18 tackles as well as 19 touches and booting a goal.

“I thought Benny was really good for us today. He was really strong around the contest and applied a lot of pressure to the opposition and also gave a lot of direction to the guys around him.”

Essendon complete part two of an important fortnight of matches next weekend when it faces 3^rd placed Williamstown before the final bye of the season.

“Williamstown will be tough again, so it’s a good challenge for us,” said Corrigan.

“We’ve attacked the last five weeks really well,  and it’s just about what we do and how we want to play. And I think if everyone is on the same page and pulling the same way you get the results we’ve had in the previous five weeks.

“We will be concentrating on that at training and making sure they get what they need and then we need to bring that into the game against Williamstown next week.”

Essendon 12.14 (86) defeated Port Melbourne 11.9 (75)

Goals:

Essendon: T. Pears 3, H. Hocking 2, K. Langford 2, N. Kommer, J. Ashby, C. McKenna, B. Howlett, J. Giles 

Port Melbourne: J. Lisle 5, Z. Keogh 2, S. Taylor, S. Clarke, M. Wooffindin, D. Toman 

Best:

Essendon: K. Hardingham, D. Zaharakis, B. Howlett, A. Steinberg, K. Aylett, D. Coghlan 

Port Melbourne: J. Lisle, L. Cook, L. Tynan, N. Batsanis, S. Clarke, D. Noonan