A well drilled Geelong outfit were too experienced for Essendon on Saturday at Windy Hill, victorious by 37 points as Steve O’Brien reports.
The Cats gained early ascendancy mainly through the pace of Jaxson Barham who was outstanding in breaking the lines and Cam Eardley who was impassable across half back.
Essendon’s forward attacks were generally thwarted with Mathew Sully and Ryan Bathie tag teaming the Dons focal point Joe Daniher. The Dons were also severely hamstrung when big man and VFL representative Michael Sikora went down with leg injury in the opening minutes of the match.
A 21-point quarter time lead grew to 30 at the half, with the game providing some entertaining match ups. The battle between Tayte Pears and Cats big man Josh Walker was as good as it get; Walker kicked 3 majors however many would argue Pears was clearly Essendon's best.
Also intriguing was Kyle Hardingham matching up on the dangerous Shane Kersten. Kersten kicked 2 but the honours went to Hardingham.
With Sikora injured, it was left to Trent Shinners to compete against Cats giant Dawson Simpson in the ruck. Shinners battled manfully, however it was Simpsons dominance that created many forward attacks for the Cats.
Essendon staged somewhat of a fightback in the third quarter when they kicked 4 goals to 2 including an after the siren goal to Hal Hunter from a free kick which reduced the margin to just 18 points at three quarter time.
Geelong through Walker goaled in the opening minutes of the last quarter which quietened the home crowd which had found voice only minutes earlier. Despite the efforts of Cory Dell'Olio with four goals and Ben Duscher returning to his best form they could not contain the Cats as they steamrolled the Bombers with a 7 goal to 4 final quarter.
It was a stellar performance from the Geelong side as they had up to a dozen senior players unavailable draining the resources of the VFL side.
Geelong was well served by Mark Corrigan, Billie Smedts, Jesse Stringer and the aforementioned Eardley Barham and Simpson.
From Essendon’s point of view Zac O' Brien playing his 1st game at VFL level provided plenty of spark and when given time to settle was one of the few Bombers to hit targets. Youngster Sean Gregory, who is thought to be a Dustin Fletcher prototype, showed enough to suggest he can be a good player , like Fletcher he was able to use his long reach and effect spoils when he looked out of the contest. Dylan Van Unen who has taken time to transition from the Dolphins to the Dons played his best game for his new club.
Essendon coach Hayden Skipworth was pragmatic following his sides fifth loss in a row, he felt rotations cost his side a lot in the final analysis, with Sikora going down and Alwyn Davey being on scheduled match time. He believes the experience of David Hille and possibly Nathan Lovett Murray returning this week would give his young side some much needed experience and leadership in their upcoming match against Sandringham.
This week Essendon are at home to Sandringham at 1pm Saturday in a do or die match for the Bombers, while Geelong hosts fellow top 8 side the Northern Blues at 1 pm Sunday.
Last Modified on 03/06/2013 13:02