ESSENDON 2.2 7.7 8.10 11.14 (80) MELBOURNE 1.4 6.4 7.7 10.7 (67)
Goals: Essendon: J Daniher 2 M Brown 2 Z Merrett 2 D Parish K Langford M Hartley M Stokes N Kommer. Melbourne: B Kennedy 3 J Garlett 2 A Brayshaw C Oliver J Harmes J Hogan J Watts.
Best: Essendon: Daniher, Z Merrett, Zaharakis, Gwilt, Goddard, Parish, Kelly, McDonald-Tipungwuti. Melbourne: N Jones, Kennedy, Vince, Lumumba, Tyson, Gawn.
Umpires: Troy Pannell, Andrew Stephens, Leigh Fisher.
Official Crowd: 50,424 at MCG.
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Bombers hold off Demons in big upset
Essendon pull off a massive upset, beating Melbourne by 13 points at the MCG.
It seemed a lot more feasible that Essendon actually may not win a game this season at half-time of their smashing on the Gold Coast last week, so uncompetitive had the Bombers looked.
The final scoreboard, however, belied a much better effort by the Dons after that early embarrassment. And the significance of that came home to roost seven days later on home turf not only a vast improvement, but a win many sceptics insisted was impossible.
Where Essendon of last week looked like a bunch of players who'd barely been introduced to, let alone played with each other, the Bombers on Saturday ran in waves, linked up, supported each other defensively, and as the prospect of victory became clearer, continued to grow in stature.
So much so that even after Melbourne kicked the first three goals of the final quarter to turn a deficit into a lead, the result beginning to look inevitable, the Bombers found something extra.
Leaders David Zaharakis and Brendon Goddard willed their young teammates on. Those kids like Darcy Parish, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Kyle Langford and Marty Gleeson refused to freeze in tension.
And above it all, both literally and metaphorically, towered Joe Daniher, who was completely dominant in the air with 21 disposals and 15 marks, seven of which were contested.
Only a wonky kicking boot prevented him turning in one of the great games by a key forward of recent times, and even that came good when it counted.
Daniher's second goal of the game midway through the final term drew Essendon level, two more to Langford and Parish ensuring a win which will mean the world not only to this playing group drawn from here and there, but to the fans, 10,000 of whom had marched to the MCG well before the opening bounce.
From the start, this appeared a different Essendon altogether from the version which was jumped by Suns last week and was never in the contest.
Skipper Brendon Goddard hit the post after a couple of minutes, the Dons already dominating play. Zach Merrett had the first goal on the board in under five minutes after a shocking turnover by Demon defender Tom McDonald left the Melbourne defence outnumbered.
Daniher missed another shot, Essendon having by now had six inside 50 entries to none. In fact, Melbourne took until nearly 12 minutes into the match to post their first forward entry, perhaps lucky the scoreboard damage was only minimal.
They were back within two points after Angus Brayshaw coolly slotted a snap around the corner from just on 50 metres. But it didn't exactly proved the kickstart the Demons were after.
Melbourne looked sluggish, not just one but a series of clangers by McDonald typical. The Demons failed to apply the sort of physical pressure which had been so impressive in their last-quarter comeback against GWS.
Repeatedly, the Dons were allowed to mark out in the open, by quarter-time already having racked up 32 more uncontested possessions and twice as many tackles.
And another goal to Zach Merrett followed by one from Matthew Stokes in the first minute of the second term had the alarm bells ringing loudly for Melbourne. It was the excitement of little men Jeff Garlett and Ben Kennedy which finally roused the Demons from their slumber.
First, Garlett burnt off Bomber defender Mark Baguley to race into an open goal. A strong tackle on Goddard forced a turnover which saw Kennedy follow suit.
The former Collingwood's next major was more impressive still, beginning behind centre, following up to courageously split a marking contest running with the flight of the ball, recovering to gather the spoils and goal on the run.
By now, Melbourne led by 12 points and what was expected to be normal transmission seemed to have been restored. But Essendon, unlike last week, had a sniff the scent of which wasn't about to be easily extinguished.
They'd kick four of the last five goals of the quarter, Joe Daniher finally finding the target for the first time despite his aerial dominance which saw him with seven marks by the long break.
Essendon's first draft pick Darcy Parish was even more impressive than he'd been in is debut. The exciting Anthony Tipungwuti-McDonald looked far more at home than in his first game, and was involved in several of the Bombers' dashes from defence to attack.
Kyle Langford looked more assured, and both Merretts, Zach and older brother Jackson, were prolific. And down back, James Gwilt completely pulled the shutters down on Jesse Hogan. Little wonder the Essendon home crowd was buzzing when their team left the field for the half-time break.
Even when the Demons managed to lift their intensity through the efforts of tireless midfield workers Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince, defender Heritier Lumumba and Kennedy, the Dons, though, refused to drop their bundle.
The result is a figure in the match points column exceeding after just two weeks the "zero" many thought it would read after 22. And yet another valuable lesson to those who like the early crow that a week, let alone six months, is a long time for a team to look as bad as Essendon did early in round one.
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