A spirited VFL side were defeated by Springvale at Moorabin on Friday night. The VFL side has been without experienced players in its previous three practice matches and this trend continued on Friday night. Essendon called on five players from outside clubs to help field a side. The team was bolstered by the return of centreman Marc Bullen and youngster Joel Reynolds - however still lacked senior experience. A big positive for the side was the form of 2001 draftee Simon O’Keefe. In his first match for the season, the 18-year-old only played the first half of the game, but dominated in the ruck. “The form of young O’Keefe was very encouraging. He was impressive in the ruck and took some strong marks around the ground,” said VFL coach Terry Daniher.

In windy conditions, Essendon had to work hard all night to convert. They were efficient in moving the ball down to the forward line, however the St.Kilda defence were too strong. “We lacked height up forward which made it difficult to score. The players tried hard all night but St.Kilda used the ball better and mastered the blustery conditions. The side was more spirited this week and took some risks. I asked for improvement in these areas and they responded,” Daniher said.

2001 Calder Cannons captain, Andrew Welsh – continued his good pre-season form and put in another solid performance. According to Daniher - the 18-year-old attacked the ball hard and worked tirelessly all match. Marc Bullen, Joel Reynolds and rookies Scott Howard and Adam Winter all had reasonable performances and showed patches of form. “The positive out of having a depleted side is all the young players are getting a full game and a run in different positions. This is helping with their development and you can see them improving each week. When round one comes around and we mix these players with some experienced guys – we will field a competitive VFL side,” said an enthusiastic Daniher.