MELBOURNE 2.4 4.6 12.9 17.10 (112)
ESSENDON 2.2 4.8 6.12 10.14 (74)
Goals: Melbourne: C Petracca 4 J Watts 4 J Garlett 3 M Hannan 3 C Pedersen J Lewis T McDonald. Essendon: C Hooker 2 O Fantasia 2 A McGrath A Tipungwuti D Parish J Daniher T Bellchambers T Colyer.
Best: Melbourne: Petracca, Watts, Oliver, Lewis, T. McDonald, Garlett, Pedersen, Hibberd. Essendon: Hurley, Goddard, Dea, McGrath, Heppell, Merrett.
Umpires: Hay, Nicholls, Haussen.
Official Crowd: 44,040 at Etihad Stadium.
How to explain the poor kicking early in this match?
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Melbourne into eight with victory over Essendon
Melbourne have moved into the eight with a 112-74 victory over Essendon.
Well there was a light breeze in Melbourne on Sunday, so perhaps that could explain it. Except the roof was closed at Etihad Stadium, officially because of a 20 per cent chance of rain.
Maybe it was the jumpers then? Essendon and Melbourne's colours are pretty similar after all, perhaps players were getting confused by that mass of navy, red and black running around. Nice try, except the Demons were wearing their predominantly white clash strip.
Maybe it was the tackling? Pressure can make accurate disposal a tough task. But both sides' tackle counts were below average.
Really, there weren't any easy answers to explain the ball use in the at Docklands. There was no good excuse for Dons Brendon Goddard, Andrew McGrath. Zach Merrett and Conor McKenna missing straightforward targets in the first half. There was no good excuse for Demons veteran Bernie Vince chipping a kick-in straight back to Bomber Orazio Fantasia, giving away a cheap goal in a low-scoring game. There was no good excuse for Joe Daniher, who kicked six behinds and sent another shot out of bounds – and that was only in the first half! Even by his high standards for waywardness it was something. Daniher did eventually kick a goal in the third quarter, but only after an umpire allowed him to re-take a missed snap.
The best that can be said about the first half is that it was close. The Demons led by two points at the first change, and trailed by two points at the long break.
Melbourne won the game though, snapping their three-game losing streak. The damage was done with an eight goal to two third quarter. It didn't come through contested ball dominance, but rather through smooth transition play and finesse up forward. In the absence of Jesse Hogan - missing the game after the death of his father - Melbourne played a shorter forward line, and it worked.
Christian Petracca was again a major factor, using his strength and skill to great effect. Jeff Garlett called on his two most valuable assets, his pressure and his class, and finished the game with three goals. Alex Neal-Bullen was quiet for much but showed a cool head twice in the third term to set up majors.
After his much-publicised pre-season test, Jack Watts has worked his way into form, with his mainly neat finishing a striking contrast to the wasteful Daniher down the other end. Mitch Hannan finished with three goals, and the Demons even got another goal out of Tom McDonald, who was influential relieving Cam Pedersen as Melbourne tried to plug the ruck hole left by Max Gawn and Jake Spencer. Pedersen's own solid effort shouldn't be ignored. He had more impact than direct opponent Tom Bellchambers, despite giving up an eight-centimetre advantage.
Back from his three-week suspension Jordan Lewis was industrious in the midfield, ably assisted by prodigious teenager Clayton Oliver. In defence Michael Hibberd responded to a smattering of boos from fans of his former club by providing important run.
Perhaps it was run that was the biggest difference in the end. Melbourne might have had less than a day's extra break but the Bombers - coming off a five-day break after their Anzac Day win over Collingwood - just couldn't keep up in the second half, despite a manful effort in defence from Michael Hurley.
No Don typified his side's second half effort than Jobe Watson, who looked almost to be jogging on the spot by game's end as he faded badly, finishing with just 13 disposals. Then in the dying minutes Mitch Brown was carried off the ground with an injured ankle, another unwanted development for the Bombers.
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