Essendon defender Courtenay Dempsey made a successful return from injury in Saturday morning’s VFL loss to Geelong at Simmonds Stadium.
Dempsey played just three quarters of the game as the Bombers lost by three point's in the practice match against the Cats.
Coach Hayden Skipworth said he was happy with the form shown by the running halfback in his first hit out of 2014.
“Demps played over the first three quarters and played really well,” Skipworth said.
“He was able to read the ball really well, used it well and defended really well so we were very pleased with his return.”
“We would expect him to play another game in the VFL so that he can get a full game under his belt before he would push for AFL selection.”
Jake Melksham also collected plenty of the ball through the midfield and across half forward as he prepares for a round 3 return from suspension to the senior side.
“Jake was good, he was probably one of our better players over the four quarters which is what we would expect,” Skipworth said.
“He competed really hard, was tough around the ball and used it really well by both hand and foot today.”
After a poor first half the Bombers came to life in the second half only to be piped on the post by a late goal to Geelong’s Mitch Herbison.
Orazio Fantasia, Kurt Aylett and Ben Duscher were other notable performers for the Bombers.
Fantasia, the club’s second round draft selection, competed well all day showing glimpses of what he can do on the wing and up forward.
Aylett, recruited to the Bombers from the Giants in the off-season, tagged midfielder Jordan Schroder, doing a very good job to keep the Cats ball magnet quiet.
The Bombers will take on Richmond at the True Value Solar Centre next Saturday morning in the final practice match before kicking off their VFL campaign.
“We have played three games and I think we have played three bad quarters in total,” Skipworth said.
“Overall we have played pretty well and have got a lot of guys some good game time in the lead up to the last quarter.”
Geelong 12.14.86
Essendon 11.17.83
Best: Melksham, Fantasia, Duscher, Aylett.
