ESSENDON 3.3 6.6 7.7 11.9 (75)
GOLD COAST 3.1 5.5 8.8 9.15 (69)
GOALS – Essendon: Fantasia 3, McKenna 2, Cooney, Grimley, Daniher, Brown, J.Merrett, Bird. Gold Coast: Day 2, Wright 2, Lynch 2, Grant, Miller, Matera.
BEST - Essendon: Brown, Zaharakis, Z.Merrett, Daniher, Ambrose, Dea, Fantasia. Gold Coast: Miller, Hall, Rosa, May, Ah Chee.
INJURIES – Essendon: Hartley (suspected broken nose).
REPORTS - Nil
UMPIRES – Brown, Ryan, Mitchell
​CROWD – 16,622 at Etihad Stadium
The naysayers said Essendon would not win a game this season, but the Bombers went two better than that on Sunday with a come-from-behind six-point win over Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium.
In a game of wild momentum swings and eight lead changes, the depleted Bombers stormed home from a 13-point deficit midway through the third term to boot five of the last six goals and claim a stirring victory.
The Bombers faithful had to survive a nervous final 15 seconds after Gold Coast's Tom Lynch kicked his second goal to cut the margin to a kick, but Essendon bravely held on to ensure a gutsy win.
The result ended a club record 17-game losing streak and a 14-match run of outs at the Docklands venue for the Dons whose last victory came in round two against Melbourne.
Essendon are still a chance of avoiding their first wooden spoon in 83 years as they got back to within a game of second-bottom Brisbane following the Lions' victory over Carlton on Saturday.
It was a sorry day for the Suns who undid a lot of their good work over the past six weeks.
Essendon benefited from the expansion club's lack of pressure through the midfield and opened up Gold Coast far too easily when going forward.
Gold Coast dominated the inside-50 count (69-44) but couldn't put the score on the board as they failed to utilise their potent forward line - consisting of Lynch, Peter Wright and Sam Day - due to poor attacking entries.
The Bombers' defence also played a huge role in nullifying the Suns' attacking weapons as Patrick Ambrose, Mitch Brown (11 marks), Matt Dea and a battered Michael Hartley (broken nose) starred down back.
The Suns weren't prepared to defend around the ball and Essendon were able to transition from defence far too often.
Teams have been routinely tagging David Zaharakis, but he enjoyed a lot of freedom on Sunday as he went on to register a career-high 40 disposals. He hadn't recorded 20 disposals since round 13, but had already cleared that figure midway through the second term.
In his first game as stand-in captain, and the third-youngest skipper in the club's history, Zach Merrett led from the front as usual with 38 touches (10 contested) while Orazio Fantasia (three goals) and Joe Daniher (17 touches, eight marks) were super up forward.
Jake Long, the son of club legend Michael Long, also made an impressive debut with 13 touches, setting up a few goals.
Touk Miller (39 touches), Aaron Hall (29) and Matt Rosa (26) were Gold Coast's best.
It was clear in the first quarter why both teams are sitting in the bottom half of the table, with their spirit and endeavour nullified by numerous skill errors.
Fans had to wait 13 minutes for the first goal of the game and that came courtesy of Wright who made Essendon pay for starting the game with three consecutive behinds – including sitters from Jayden Laverde and Jackson Merrett.
But, thanks largely to a lack of pressure from the soft Suns through the midfield, the Bombers piled on three goals in a row to open up a 15-point lead.
Gold Coast responded with three consecutive goals of their own to pinch a five-point lead early in the second term but the Bombers continued to slice open the Suns through the middle and scored the next three goals to reassert themselves.
Day, Wright and Lynch started to put their stamp on the game in the third quarter with more effective forward entries from their side.
On the back of a four-goal burst, the Suns shot out to a 13-point lead as Essendon's drive off half-back stopped and Gold Coast enjoyed the first 10 inside 50s of the second half.
However, the Suns' dominance in general play was shortlived and the momentum swung back in Essendon's favour as they got their running game going again and ran over the top of the inaccurate visitors to snare a famous win.
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