Essendon made it a Channel 7 TV game to remember against Collingwood, with an impressive display in Round 3 of the Peter Jackson VFL before a good crowd at Victoria Park in their Anzac Day eve clash.
Much of the focus leading into the game focused on out-of favour forward Travis Cloke who was playing his ninth VFL game spanning a 12-year AFL career. He booted Collingwood's first two goals but it was all the Bombers after that as they took complete control running away with an emphatic 85-point victory 20.13.133 to 7.6.48, as Shane Goss reports.
Former Fremantle Docker, Ryan Crowley, booted a game-high four goals and gathered 30 disposals while another top-up player, ex-Hawk Jonathan Simpkin, had 32 possessions and kicked two goals in the big win for the Bombers.
Cloke was starved for opportunities after quarter-time with the home side able to kick just four more goals for the game while Essendon slammed on seventeen. The Bombers ran harder and created more space with the likes of Jason Ashby (22-disposals), Jackson Merrett (24) and Jake Long (25) causing headaches for their Collingwood counterparts.
Former North Melbourne defender, Nathan Grima, made life difficult for Cloke although at stages of the match it appeared as if Cloke's teammates had forgotten he was up forward, often failing to look for him as a target. Trailing by 34 points at the main break, things soon got worse for Collingwood as the Bombers continued on their merry way in the third term booting another five goals to just the one from the Pies.
The Collingwood defence was constantly under pressure as the Bombers ran rampant in the last with another seven goals. Pies defender Jackson Viola tried hard to stem the flow and Jesse White battled all day around the ground. Ben Crocker and Matthew Goodyear provided some positives for the Pies in what was a disappointing display from the home side.
Take nothing away from Essendon however, they came to play, showing plenty of enthusiasm and willingness at the contest. The win elevates them to second spot on the ladder and sets up an enticing Round 4 clash with third placed Casey Scorpions at Windy Hill on Sunday.
Collingwood's early season form is patchy and coach Dale Tapping will be hoping they can regroup and turn it around when they face-off with another arch rival, the Northern Blues, at Preston City Oval. The injury list is mounting at both AFL and VFL level for the Pies, with the club needing to find replacements for key VFL listed players like Michael Still, Lachlan Ferguson, Ryan Pendlebury and Jeremy Taylor just to name a few.
The Channel 7 broadcast of Collingwood v Essendon was the highest rating VFL game for the season with 77,000 average viewers, and a peak average audience 122,000. This Sunday Williamstown hosts Port Melbourne at 11:30am on Channel 7
Photo: Shane Goss (@licoricegallery)
Last Modified on 28/04/2016 00:17