A sensational nine-goal first quarter set up a convincing 36-point win for Essendon over the Western Bulldogs in Albury last night. Brilliantly led by captain James Hird, Essendon produced its best pre-season performance of 2002. Hird kicked four goals and had 24 possessions in the first half alone to set the Bombers alight. But there were many other positives for Essendon. Danny Jacobs made an excellent return from injury at centre half back, Mark Mercuri and Mark McVeigh were superb in the mid-field and Aaron Henneman again showed he can handle the ruck. And to top it off, a couple of youngsters showed they will be very good players.

Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey called the shots last night with Kevin Sheedy taking a secondary role. Harvey said after the match that the win had been a timely confidence boost for the side. ""Look, it was only a practice match but we needed that win,"" Harvey said. ""The players needed it, the coaches needed it and the supporters needed it. It is the confidence boost we needed with the season just a couple of weeks away.""

Harvey said that the two important aspects of the win had been the players' skill level and hardness at the ball. ""I think we have lacked a bit in both those areas in previous matches but they were significantly better tonight which was a real positive,"" Harvey said. ""They have another two weeks to make sure they get those areas even sharper for our match against Geelong.""

Harvey was full of praise for a number of players. ""Henneman has taken real steps this pre-season as both a ruckman and a forward - he has been a real bonus for us,"" Harvey said. ""Jacobs was very good considering he has missed so much football and McVeigh kicked 2.4 playing as a mid-fielder / forward. We all know Hird and Mercuri are class players and they showed that tonight""

Importantly, Harvey was also impressed by a couple of the Bombers' younger players. ""Joel Reynolds played on a wing in the second half and looked very much at home. I think we were all a little surprised that a 17-year-old looked so good and comfortable playing senior football. He's an exciting prospect and is very balanced and poised when he gets the ball,"" Harvey said. Andrew Welsh also had his first run at senior level. He started up forward and put his body on the line in one passage of play to set up a goal. ""All the players went to Andrew after that goal. They really respect a player who puts his body on the line and that is what he did,"" Harvey said. ""I gave him a tough job on Brad Johnson after that and he handled that quite well. It was a very positive start for him.""

Essendon had 33 shots at goal during the night - an excellent return given Sclott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd were both sidelined with injury. Essendon also got through the match without adding to its injury list.