Essendon has recorded back-to-back VFLW wins and its first at the NEC Hangar with a 28-point victory over Hawthorn on Saturday.

In humid conditions, the Bombers had a strong first half to set themselves up for an 8.7 (55) to 3.9 (27) win against the Hawks.

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The Hawks hit the board in the early minutes of the game with the Bombers quickly replying with goals from Federica Frew and Mia-Rae Clifford.

The Bombers didn’t give their opponents any space in the second quarter, with the pressure resulting in four unanswered goals including two majors from Natalie MacDonald.

Debutant Elizabeth Snell, who came up from the Bendigo Pioneers’ under-18 side, showed her skills through midfield, providing solid support for Courtney Ugle and Georgia Nanscawen.

After heading into the main break with a 31-point lead, the Bombers extended their lead with an early third-quarter goal from Frew.

The Hawks lifted their intensity, however, locking the ball in their half for the majority of the third term, but were unable to capitalise against an Alex Morcom-led Bomber backline.

The Hawks dominated the play throughout the final term, managing to hit the scoreboard for multiple majors for the time since the opening quarter.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Clifford was rewarded a free kick directly in front of goal, converting her third major to seal the win for Essendon.

Leadership group member Eloise Ashley-Cooper saw today’s game as a “stepping stone for the future”, with many younger team members stepping up.

“It was really a team effort. I think everyone played their role, but in particular Tamsin (Crook) was awesome down back and Snell (Elizabeth Snell) was phenomenal coming in for her first game,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“We’ve been working towards our vision for a very long time, and I think we implemented some of the things we have been working on at training.”

As the team is young and continues to develop, Ashley-Cooper said the Bombers’ focus for the match was to continue establishing their own style of play and consistently implementing it.

“Today we just wanted to play a brand of footy that we are proud of,” she said.

“We have been working towards a vision for a very long time and I think we just wanted to implement what we have been working on at training.”

The 20-year-old felt the team was a lot more composed with the ball, but could see areas for improvement heading into the round four clash with Darebin.

“I think we just stuck to our structures more and were more composed with the ball. We had clear intentions and played a selfless game of footy,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“There were some times we didn’t achieve or play as we wanted but I think that is all in the learnings.”

The Bombers will hope to carry the momentum from their back-to-back wins into their round four clash against Darebin next Sunday from 10:30 am at the NEC Hangar. 

Essendon 2.3 6.5 7.6 8.7 (55)
Hawthorn 1.1 1.4 1.7 3.9 (27)

Goals: Clifford 3, MacDonald 2, Frew 2, Theodore

Best: MacDonald, Ashley-Cooper, Snell, Morcom, Clifford, Barba