Essendon forward Patrick Ambrose made a successful return in the VFL team's 25 point loss to arch rival Collingwood in the Blue Star Cup at Windy Hill on Saturday.

Ambrose has been out of the side since round three of the AFL season with a quad injury and made a solid return to the side, kicking a goal and getting his hands on the ball as the game went on.

Assistant coach James Byrne said he was pleased with the way Ambrose worked his way into the game.

“He was good, he started a bit rusty, but he came into the game a bit more in the second half,” Byrne said.

“You could just tell that he just needed that run, he has a huge work rate and we just needed to work with him in regards to his positioning down forward”

The Bombers managed just the two goals in the opening half of football, a half that was dominated by Collingwood who piled on eight goals to lead by 36 points at half time.

Essendon managed to outscore the Magpies in the second half but couldn’t quite get in front, getting as close as 15 points midway through the final quarter before Collingwood put on two late goals to close out the match.

“It was a frustrating day because we think we’re a good side,” Byrne said.

“We just couldn’t get our hands on the ball, and we had some pretty ordinary turnovers which you can’t do against good sides."

Byrne said that getting some key players such as Ambrose, Tayte Pears and Tom Bellchambers in the side added important experience to the side.

“Hopefully those three can push for selection in the senior side sometime soon,” he said.

“Tayte has been playing as a forward and we’re hoping to give him some more game time there once he is off his restriction coming back from injury”

Small forward Anthony Tipungwuti left the ground late in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

“Tippa will have scans on Monday on his injured ankle, so hopefully it is nothing too serious but we’ll see how we go.”

“He was a big loss for us today because he was probably one of our better players up until that time.

“His skills and ability to break the lines really hurt us when he left the field.”

Essendon will be looking to get back on the winners list next Sunday afternoon against Sandringham at Trevor Barker Beach Oval from 2pm.

Final Score:
Essendon: 13.9.(87)
Collingwood: 17.10.(112)

Goals: Kefford, Mellington, Colyer 2, Ambrose, Coghlan, Fantasia, Bellchambers, Duscher, Rayner, Pears

Best: Kefford, Coghlan, Fantasia, Aylett, Colyer, Van Unen, Steinberg.