The men from Port Melbourne, who have held sway over Essendon for several years, will aim to continue that tradition when the sides meet at North Port Oval this Saturday. Stephen O’Brien previews the game.
In Round 7 when the two sides met, 18 more scoring shot by the Borough online produced an 18 point victory for Port, amassing 10 goals and 25 behinds in what eventually was a tight contest.
Port Melbourne, after looking as though they may turn back the clock and go through the season undefeated, have had two midseason hiccups losing to Geelong away and then being comprehensively put to the sword against top side Footscray at the home of the Borough. They have since steadied and looked to have regained some momentum .
Essendon players, staff and supporters have all turned prematurely grey with the closeness of matches of late. In games they could not afford to lose they have defeated Werribee by two points, played out a draw with Frankston and then defeated Box Hill by 3 solitary points and in between they had a comfortable win against Coburg .
The Bombers who sit ninth on the table and cannot afford to drop any matches as they are in the middle of a string of matches against the top four teams. A narrow victory against the Hawks last week was the perfect start to what is known in soccer terms as the "group of death ".
Marcus Marigliani, who suited up for the AFL Bombers in the 2010 season, lines up for his 150th VFL match, a fantastic achievement for the VFL stalwart who as well as the Borough and Dons has had stints with Frankston and captained Sandringham.
Port look to be nearing full strength, with forwards like Josh Scipione, Julian Rowe and Adrian Bonaddio missing from their best 22.
Port’s David Fanning head to head with Tom Bellchambers promises to be enthralling , as well as the two bulls in the centre going head to head in Toby Pinwill and Ben Duscher. For Essendon to have any chance they will need to quell the brilliance of Shane Valenti and Chris Cain , long time superstars of the VFL competition. Luke Tynan in his 1st season at Port since crossing from Casey has been outstanding and achieved best on ground honours in the earlier clash this season .
Dan Coghlan continues to impress for the Bombers and the unsung Alex McLeod and 23rd man Alex Hickey have been mainstays of the resurgent Bombers and will need to be closely watched by their Port counterparts .
VERDICT: Essendon has struggled at North Port and it is hard to see them getting over the line here , its Port Melbourne for me by 23 points.
- CLICK HERE to listen to an interview with Essendon leading goal kicker Alistair Kefford.
Last Modified on 11/07/2014 22:00