Essendon has finished with a flurry to overpower the Northern Blues by eight points in an enthralling contest at Preston City Oval Saturday afternoon.
Down by 25 points at the main break, the Bombers rallied to get within four points at the final change before overunning the Blues to win in a classic.
Coach Hayden Skipworth was relieved to get over the line after a sub-par performance up until half-time.
“We couldn’t have played much worse in the first half, we turned the ball over, we were unaccountable and they beat us back in transition. So for the boys to turn it around at half time was a fantastic effort.
“They grinded out the win and it was a free flowing game after half time. They just kept working contest after contest and won the ball and got it forward, so it was very pleasing.”
The Bombers went back to basics for the second half, and things begun to turn in their favor.
“The message at half-time was to get back to winning the one-on-ones, get the ball going forward and lock it in our forward half.
“And the time in forward half after half-time was enormous compared to the first half.
“We started getting back into the game and we were winning the stoppages and lose-ball gets as well.”
Shaun McKernan continued his dominance at VFL level, highlighting he is a step above the rest in his best-on-ground performance. The versatile big-man gathered 20 disposals, had seven clearances, took seven marks and booted a goal.
“Shaun was fantastic, he had a big day,” Skipworth said.
“He was obviously disappointed to be left out of the senior team, but he came back with a fantastic attitude which resulted in the way he played this afternoon.”
James Gwilt played a valuable role in defense on Blues danger-man Matthew Watson, nullifying his influence for the entirety of the match.The 28-year-old demonstrated his years of experience and class in the Bombers’ backline.
“Gwilt played on Watson for most of the game and held him really well and he didn’t have a big impact on the game, so he is certainly a rock for us back there.
“He really set our defense up really well and always has the job on the big key forwards of the opposition.”
Next weekend’s match sets itself as another huge challenge for theVFL Dons as they face Richmond at the ME Bank Centre in the curtain raiser for the Dreamtime at the ‘G match.
Skipworth admitted the importance of the clash, particularly with the heightened stakes of the contest being played on Indigenous weekend.
“It’s going to be a big game, obviously the Dreamtime clash is big and its great to be around the club and embrace the Indigenous culture and hopefully make it two wins in the VFL and AFL next weekend.”
Essendon 11.10 (76) defeated Northern Blues 9.14 (68)
Goal Kickers: K. Langford 2, S. McKernan 2, J. Giles 2, J. Laverde, K. Hardingham, J. Polkinghorne, D. Coghlan, S. Heavyside
Best Players: S. McKernan, J. Gwilt, N. O''Brien, A. Tipungwuti, A. Steinberg, J. Giles
