When your home base is named Windy Hill, a strong breeze shouldn’t pose too many problems.
And so it proved for Essendon in their must-win clash with North Ballarat at Eureka Stadium on Saturday, with the Bombers mastering the tricky conditions to post a 35-point victory, writes David O'Neill.
While the large contingent of Bomber fans in attendance were greeted with the news that star-attraction Joe Daniher had been rested from the Round 4 encounter, they still found plenty to cheer about.
In a mistake-riddled game the Bombers’ class eventually shone out to allow the visitors to post a hard-fought 14.11 (95) to 9.6 (60) win, their second triumph of the season.
AFL veteran Nathan Murray-Lovett was best-afield with 30-plus possessions, while Jake Melksham, Leroy Jetta and Tayte Pears all pressed their case from a recall to the Bombers’ senior line-up.
Despite missing a traditional key forward the Bombers were able to hit the scoreboard regularly with Melksham, Elliot Kavanagh, Nick O’Brien, Matthew Bate and Fabian Brancatisano all bagging two goals apiece.
With a more than 50km wins blowing across the ground, both sides struggled to find any semblance of form in the opening term. But when Lucas Cook kicked his first goal for his new club in the dying minutes, and ruckman Ben Mabon bombed one from 60m after the siren, the Roosters had a handy 14-point lead.
Another scrappy quarter followed in the second but the Bombers were able to wrestle back the momentum with Bate competing well up forward, and Melksham getting off the leash to bag two goals.
An 18-point half-time lead quickly swelled beyond six goals in the third term as the Bombers’ better ball-users came to the fore.
Leroy Jetta and Elliot Kavanagh (twice) turned half-chances into goals, before Ballarart-boy Nick O’Brien added his second to have the Bombers sitting comfortably at the last change.
Despite the third-quarter fade-out, the Roosters refused to let the floodgates open and were able to restrict the final margin to 35 points.
Lachie George was easily the Roosters’ best with his low penetrating kicking seeming unaffected by the strong wind, while ruckman Ben Mabon and captain Michael Searl competed well in the air.
Essendon coach Hayden Skipworth said he was happy with the way his side responded after a forgettable first quarter.
“It was a bit like watching under12s footy to start with, with all the play on the outer wing and plenty of numbers around the ball,” Skipworth said.
“At quarter time we encouraged the guys to take the game on, we felt like were going long down the line too much and moving it too slowly.
“We play our best football when we move the ball quickly and so we tried to go back to our strengths.”
Skipworth was full of praise for his hard-running midfield led by Lovett-Murray but also singled out Tayte Pears for his work in the back half.
"We though our back six worked pretty well," Skipworth said.
"I thought Pears one of our best and one of the young kids Jason Ashby keeps getting better and better, while Matthew Bate competed really well and helped bring the ball to ground."
Last Modified on 29/04/2013 09:22