ESSENDON’S less than memorable year notched up another loss when it went down by 27 points to Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Jonathan Brown was unstoppable in the first half, but it was hard to blame his direct opponent Michael Hurley, who worked hard but was given no help from up the field, with the Brisbane Lions midfield being put under no pressure by the Bombers. Brown finished with 16 marks and four goals.

The Lions cleared out early in the game, kicking the first four, then kicked all five in the second have the game over as a contest at the long break. The Bombers were better in the second half, but the sting was well out of the game by then, despite a few junk time goals in the last, with the Lions winning 14.11 (95) to 10.8 (68).

There were plenty of Essendon players missing - only seven Bombers players had played 50 or more AFL matches - but the lack of energy, run and urgency was obvious to even the casual observer, and the complete lack of desire must make coach Matthew Knights despair.

The move of veteran Mark McVeigh into the middle at half-time gave the Bombers some much needed grunt around the ball, but loose cannon Kyle Reimers lost the plot several times, giving away a free immediately after the Lions had already kicked a goal, and they duly kicked another from the goal square to get back the two goals the Bombers had worked hard to get earlier in the third.

Young Jake Carlisle worked well forward then back in just his second game for the Bombers.

In next week’s merciful finale, the Bombers face the struggling Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Essendon             2.1  2.4    4.6      10.8 (68)
Brisbane Lions    5.3  10.5   12.9  14.11 (95)

GOALS
Essendon: Reimers 2, Marigliani, Carlisle, Monfries, Howlett, Stanton, Neagle, Myers
Brisbane Lions: Brown 4, Banfield 3, Rischitelli 2, Clark, Brennan, Adcock, Polkinghorne, Redden

BEST
Essendon:  Howlett, McVeigh, Hurley, Watson, Carlisle, Hille
Brisbane Lions: Brown, McGrath, Leuenberger, Rockliff, Rischitelli, Redden

INJURIES
Essendon: Paddy Ryder (virus) replaced in selected side by Michael Quinn
Brisbane Lions: Selwood (chest)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Stewart, Grun, Chamberlain

Official crowd: 28,785 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs