AFL

Greater Western Sydney
18.9.117
Essendon
15.11.101
Full Time

Match Tracker

Greater Western Sydney
Essendon
Q1
3.3.21
5.3.33

    Greater Western Sydney Events

  • 3 mins - Goal, T.Taranto
  • 11 mins - Goal, T.Scully
  • 14 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 16 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 18 mins - Goal, Z.Williams
  • 20 mins - Behind, J.Cameron

    Greater Western Sydney and Essendon Events

  • 8 mins - Behind, J.Stewart
  • 13 mins - Goal, C.Hooker
  • 23 mins - Goal, C.McKenna
  • 25 mins - Goal, J.Green
  • 27 mins - Behind, D.Zaharakis
  • 27 mins - Behind, D.Heppell
  • 29 mins - Goal, O.Fantasia
  • 30 mins - Goal, J.Daniher
Q2
10.5.65
7.7.49

    Greater Western Sydney Events

  • 3 mins - Goal, Z.Williams
  • 6 mins - Behind, Z.Williams
  • 9 mins - Goal, T.Scully
  • 11 mins - Goal, T.Greene
  • 15 mins - Goal, T.Scully
  • 23 mins - Goal, T.Greene
  • 27 mins - Behind, T.Greene
  • 28 mins - Goal, L.Whitfield
  • 31 mins - Goal, J.Kelly

    Greater Western Sydney and Essendon Events

  • 3 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 16 mins - Behind, J.Watson
  • 18 mins - Rushed Behind
  • 18 mins - Goal, D.Myers
  • 21 mins - Behind, J.Green
  • 25 mins - Goal, T.Bellchambers
Q3
15.5.95
10.10.70

    Greater Western Sydney Events

  • 4 mins - Goal, T.Greene
  • 8 mins - Goal, H.Perryman
  • 12 mins - Goal, D.Shiel
  • 21 mins - Goal, D.Lloyd
  • 31 mins - Goal, M.de Boer

    Greater Western Sydney and Essendon Events

  • 3 mins - Goal, O.Fantasia
  • 7 mins - Behind, C.Hooker
  • 15 mins - Goal, J.Green
  • 18 mins - Behind, J.Green
  • 25 mins - Goal, C.Hooker
  • 27 mins - Rushed Behind
Q4
18.9.117
15.11.101

    Greater Western Sydney Events

  • 6 mins - Goal, J.Cameron
  • 8 mins - Behind, J.Cameron
  • 9 mins - Behind, J.Kelly
  • 12 mins - Behind, T.Greene
  • 18 mins - Goal, Z.Williams
  • 23 mins - Behind, J.Cameron
  • 27 mins - Goal, M.Kennedy

    Greater Western Sydney and Essendon Events

  • 2 mins - Goal, J.Green
  • 3 mins - Goal, T.Colyer
  • 11 mins - Behind, J.Stewart
  • 15 mins - Goal, A.McDonald-Tipungwuti
  • 17 mins - Goal, A.McDonald-Tipungwuti
  • 28 mins - Goal, T.Bellchambers

Scorers

Greater Western Sydney
Essendon
Goal Scorers Greater Western Sydney Essendon
Goals and Behinds Greene (3.2), Williams (3.1), Scully (3.0), Cameron (1.3), Kelly (1.1), de Boer (1.0), Kennedy (1.0), Lloyd (1.0), Perryman (1.0), Shiel (1.0), Taranto (1.0), Whitfield (1.0) Green (3.2), Hooker (2.1), Bellchambers (2.0), Fantasia (2.0), McDonald-Tipungwuti (2.0), Colyer (1.0), Daniher (1.0), McKenna (1.0), Myers (1.0), Stewart (0.2), Heppell (0.1), Watson (0.1), Zaharakis (0.1)

Team Statistics

Greater Western Sydney
Essendon

Statistics

Greater Western Sydney Essendon
Goals 18 15
Behinds 9 11
Scoring shots 29 30
Goals/scoring shots 62 50
Disposals 379 361
Greater Western SydneyGoal Scorers
Players D K M H CP T FF FA HO CL
J.Cameron 18 13 9 5 4 3 1 0 0 0
A.Corr 7 3 2 4 2 4 2 1 0 0
P.Davis 11 7 6 4 3 2 1 0 0 0
M.de Boer 14 6 6 8 5 1 1 3 0 1
T.Greene 20 16 6 4 11 1 3 1 0 1
H.Himmelberg 10 6 3 4 3 1 2 1 0 1
J.Kelly 38 22 5 16 14 10 2 1 0 7
M.Kennedy 13 5 5 8 6 6 0 2 0 2
D.Lloyd 6 4 1 2 2 2 1 0 0 0
S.Mumford 10 2 1 8 6 3 3 2 34 1
J.Patton 12 9 8 3 3 0 0 0 3 0
H.Perryman 12 7 4 5 1 2 0 1 0 0
S.Reid 10 6 0 4 2 1 1 0 0 0
T.Scully 15 9 4 6 6 0 0 0 0 1
H.Shaw 27 20 14 7 5 0 0 1 0 2
D.Shiel 31 16 6 15 12 5 1 2 0 8
T.Taranto 17 7 5 10 6 4 0 0 0 4
A.Tomlinson 14 11 4 3 3 1 0 0 0 0
C.Ward 22 15 5 7 10 3 1 2 0 3
L.Whitfield 31 14 10 17 9 1 0 0 0 4
Z.Williams 25 16 6 9 12 7 0 0 0 4
N.Wilson 16 15 5 1 2 2 0 1 0 0
EssendonGoal Scorers
Players D K M H CP T FF FA HO CL
M.Baguley 16 10 4 6 5 1 2 1 0 1
T.Bellchambers 15 9 5 6 6 3 1 3 40 3
T.Colyer 12 7 3 5 3 5 0 2 0 1
J.Daniher 13 11 7 2 7 2 1 1 3 1
O.Fantasia 14 9 5 5 3 4 1 0 0 1
M.Gleeson 23 12 7 11 5 0 0 2 0 0
B.Goddard 21 7 4 14 7 1 1 0 0 2
J.Green 9 8 4 1 5 0 0 1 0 0
M.Hartley 10 7 4 3 1 1 1 0 0 0
D.Heppell 23 14 4 9 10 1 3 1 0 4
C.Hooker 13 8 8 5 8 0 1 0 0 0
B.Howlett 13 3 1 10 7 4 0 0 0 3
M.Hurley 21 12 9 9 6 1 0 2 0 0
A.McDonald-Tipungwuti 9 4 5 5 5 0 0 3 0 0
A.McGrath 15 7 5 8 2 4 0 0 0 0
C.McKenna 18 8 2 10 2 3 1 1 0 0
Z.Merrett 29 16 3 13 9 5 3 0 0 6
D.Myers 17 8 0 9 6 1 0 0 0 1
B.Stanton 12 10 4 2 3 7 1 1 0 0
J.Stewart 9 7 5 2 3 1 1 0 0 2
J.Watson 28 12 8 16 9 7 1 0 0 6
D.Zaharakis 21 10 4 11 4 1 0 1 0 2

Match Details

Greater Western Sydney
Essendon
START TIME
4:35PM
WEATHER
Partly cloudy
VENUE
Spotless Stadium
Umpires
Shane McInerney, Robert O'Gorman, Leigh Fisher, Chris Donlon
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GWS Giants v Essendon: Giants climb to the top of the ladder with win over Dons

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GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 3.3 10.5 15.5 18.9 (117)
ESSENDON 5.3 7.7 10.10 15.11 (101)
GOALS: Greater Western Sydney 
– Greene 3, Scully 3, Williams 3, Lloyd, Shiel, Perryman, Cameron, Kelly, Whitfield, De Boer, Kennedy, Taranto. Essendon – Green 3, McDonald-Tipungwuti 2, Hooker 2, Fantasia 2, Bellchambers 2, McKenna, Myers, Daniher, Colyer.
BEST: GWS – Kelly, Greene, Williams, Whitfield, Shiel, Tomlinson. Essendon – Merrett, Gleeson, Watson, Bellchambers, Hooker.
INJURIES: GWS – Nil. Essendon: McKenna (leg).
UMPIRES: Donlon, McInerney, Fisher, O'Gorman.
CROWD: 13,671 at Spotless Stadium.

Greater Western Sydney haven't yet scaled Everest, but after five-and-a-half seasons, they have reached the summit of the AFL's K2. For the first time in the expansion club's history, the Giants will end a round atop the ladder after they beat Essendon by 16 points at Spotless Stadium on Saturday, their fourth win in a row.

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Giants go top

The Giants have climbed to the top of the AFL ladder, defeating Essendon at Spotless Stadium.

The Bombers were far from embarrassed in veteran Brendon Goddard's 300th game, and gave the Giants a scare when Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti kicked goals in quick succession midway through the final quarter as Essendon charged, with the margin closing to just nine points, but the men in red and black are again in the red, having lost two in a row, falling to 5-6, with a game against in-form Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium to come before the Dons' bye.

The Dons will rue some untidy kicking for goal and weren't helped by some dubious umpiring, but that shouldn't detract from the Giants' achievement. They have reached this summit despite a horrendous run of injuries during the first half of the season, and a look at who's to return before the finals – Steve Johnson, Brett Deledio, Rory Lobb, Jacob Hopper, Ryan Griffen, Nick Haynes, Devon Smith and Stephen Coniglio – should send a shiver down the spine of all their premiership rivals.

This GWS win was all the more meritorious given they were coming off a six-day break, and had returned from a trip to Perth last weekend.

Despite their casualties, the Giants are still fielding a team with plenty of supremely talented players every weekend. Surely none have been more influential in their climb to the top of the ladder than Josh Kelly, who at this rate could be underpaid next year regardless of whether he chooses to stay at GWS, or head back to Victoria to join North Melbourne or St Kilda.

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The midfielder was relentless, racking up 38 disposals of which very few were wasted. In the final term as the Dons gave themselves a sniff, Kelly's composure was vital. He had plenty of helpers though. Zac Williams found plenty of the ball too, and drifted forward to kick a career-high three goals, including a last quarter-settler, while Dylan Shiel and Lachie Whitfield were strong midfield contributors, Toby Greene shone up forward, and Adam Tomlinson limited Joe Daniher's influence.

While not entirely dominant, the Giants were tracking comfortably enough for the first 20 minutes, breaking out to a 14-point lead.

The highlight of that early period came from Tom Scully, who having missed last weekend's win against West Coast returned with a beautiful running goal from just inside the boundary line 40 metres out.

Essendon were struggling to string the ball together with much fluency, but with little warning they clicked into gear. Zach Merrett and David Zaharakis were proving highly effective, while veterans Jobe Watson and Ben Howlett both showed signs they aren't yet spent causes with classy baulks to set up majors for Conor McKenna and Orazio Fantasia respectively, as the Dons shot ahead with four majors in seven minutes.

GWS midfielders Callan Ward, Shiel and Scully had all been quiet, and coach Leon Cameron gave his charges a tongue-lashing at the quarter-time huddle.

The second term was a frustrating one for the Dons, who failed to take their chances in front of goal. The Giants – despite their long injury list – still have too much class to let a team get off the hook. GWS clawed their way to 16-point lead at half-time on the back of brilliance from the supremely talented Greene, Kelly and Whitfield.

Greene's freakish efforts – which included a stunning overhead mark – appeared more remarkable given he looked to be labouring early in the game with an ankle injury.

The Giants threatened to break the game open but Essendon were determined, never allowing the margin to get beyond 27 points. Merrett was terrific and a big reason his side threatened in the last quarter, while Martin Gleeson was solid in defence, and Watson found plenty of the ball in the clinches. But for the fourth week in a row the Giants won a game by less than three goals. 

Votes

J. Kelly (GWS) 9

T. Greene (GWS) 7

Z. Williams (GWS) 7

Z. Merrett (Ess) 6

L. Whitfield (GWS) 6

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