""The wheels could have fallen off after three-quarter time when Melbourne kicked seven goals straight, but we knew they had a hard week coming back from Perth, so we were still very confident at three quarter time. We knew we had to keep running and get the ball inside 50m as quick as possible,"" Johnson said.
It was a nail biting final quarter with the lead changing hands several times. Essendon prevailed and booted four goals to Melbourne’s two to run out five point winners. ""It was a fantastic win, the boys showed great character to fight back. We never gave up despite Melbourne throwing everything at us,"" he said after the match.
David Hille was the man of the moment in the final quarter. After sharing the ruck duties with Matthew Allan earlier in the game, he was moved down forward in the fourth term. The decision proved to be match winning. He booted three goals, his final at the 22.30 minute mark gave the Bombers a five-point lead.
""Lloydy played a great team game in the final quarter to allow David Hille to cause a mismatch in our forwardline. David became a target for us up forward and in the end was the difference in winning the match,"" Johnson said.
Johnson said he was pleased with the team’s attack at the football and its never say die attitude. ""I thought our hardness at the contest was very good and we applied good pressure. At times we over used the football, particularly in the third quarter and that is something we will definitely address during the week,"" Johnson said.
After today’s five-point win, Essendon will play the loser of the first semi final tomorrow between Port Adelaide and Geelong at AAMI Stadium.
