Essendon has kick-started the second half of their season with a convincing win over Melbourne in the Clash for Cancer at Etihad stadium tonight.

Angus Monfries said the Bombers were relieved to get their record back to six and six ahead of what looms to be an exciting tussle with Carlton next Friday.

“We went into the game really wanting to win,” he said.

“It was sort of a mini final in a sense and to get back to even; six and six is really good but we have to keep going and maintaining that workrate for the rest of the year.”
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The Bombers burst out of the blocks, piling the goals on early before taking their foot off the pedal in the second term and allowing the Demons to work themselves back into the game.

Essendon used the half-time break to regroup and, on their return, were far better defensively and were able to break away from Melbourne and put the game beyond doubt.

“It was a really good effort,” Monfries said.

“I think we were a bit slow in the first half. We sort of got a few goals up and then we relaxed and they got a few goals back.

“To the boys credit, the third quarter was fantastic and although we let them back into it a bit in the final term, we were able to seal the win which was great.”

Dustin Fletcher was as instrumental as ever in the Bombers win despite having missed almost two months of football.

He led the young backline brilliantly and made scoring opportunities for Melbourne hard to come by.

“Whenever Lanky (Fletcher) is playing, you can guarantee that he will be able to get his arm in there and do his job for the team and he did exactly that today,” Monfries said.

“Lloydy was also really good. He contested well and he kicked a couple of goals which was really good for the side.""
The main disappointment for the night was Mark McVeigh being reported for striking in the third quarter.