ESSENDON 7.6 12.9 14.13 19.17 (131)
PORT ADELAIDE 1.3 4.5 7.7 8.13 (61)
GOALS: Essendon: Hooker 5, McDonald-Tipungwuti 4, Daniher 4, Stewart 2, Goddard, Heppell, Watson, Merrett. Port Adelaide: R Gray 3, Ah Chee, Trengove, Westhoff, S Gray, Powell-Pepper.
BEST: Essendon: Heppell, Hooker, Merrett, Hurley, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Daniher, McKenna, Goddard, Watson. Port Adelaide: Westhoff, Gray, Wines, Ebert.
UMPIRES: Chris Donlon, Chris Kamolins, Dean Margetts, David Harris.
CROWD:Â 34,022 at Etihad Stadium.
Some games meander along for much of their duration in search of an obvious narrative. The storyline for this one, in contrast, was written after 15 minutes. And it wasn't the plot anyone had expected.
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Bombers blitz Power
Essendon had their shooting boots on in a demolition of a lame Port Adelaide outfit.
Port Adelaide broke Hawthorn's spirit last week with a blistering opening. But this time, it was the Power on the receiving end of such a burst, stunned by Essendon's best first quarter of the year.
It's debatable the Bombers have played a better quarter-hour of football in recent memory. And it meant that by the time Port were jolted from their apparent slumber, they were already nearly seven goals in arrears in hostile territory and with backs squarely against the wall.
From the opening bounce, Essendon abandoned the possession game and took risks with quick movement through the corridor. And did it pay off.
Cale Hooker and Orazio Fantasia's gang tackle on Hamish Hartlett for an early free kick and goal signalled the intent, and with it the rewards on offer. James Stewart had the second only a minute later. When Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti split a contest then burst towards goal to make it three, something was clearly up.
But that was just a taster. Stewart had his second not a minute later, Hooker his second from an unlikely left-foot snap, and when Joe Daniher dribbled one between Justin Westhoff's legs, it was six goals to zip.
From there, it was going to take something pretty special from Port to turn the tables. And indeed, for a short time, that looked feasible, the Power beginning the second term much the way Essendon began the first, Jackson Trengove and Gray with a couple of goals on the board within two minutes.
When Bomber skipper Dyson Heppell, otherwise a star, missed his intended target by a good couple of metres and Gray goalled from the turnover, the nerves began to creep in to the support base. Significantly, though, not on the other side of the fence.
Essendon wasn't about to suddenly go all coy and try to defend territory. The Bombers just turned on another burst of attacking football much the same as the first, this time the result five goals in just 12 minutes.
Hooker, confidence now fully restored, took a huge grab and converted to settle things down. Zach Merrett marked a hurried Port defensive clearance and banged it back over the goal umpire's head.
Now Hooker bounced one through, his fifth. Then it was the turn of Daniher, perhaps feeling left out. The emerging star worked hard to lead into space, and David Zaharakis, after a searching run, honoured it. A towering mark gave him his third.
That made it 53 points before the half-time bell had even rung, the second half by now purely academic.
The Essendon forwards were marking everything, and looked likely to score every time the ball went inside 50, which was frequently. But what was going on upfield was no less significant.
Port Adelaide's midfield has worked brilliantly as a group this season. But they were smashed here, the Bomber quartet of Merrett, Heppell, Brendon Goddard and Jobe Watson having racked up just on 100 disposals by three-quarter-time alone.
In defence, Michael Hurley and Michael Hartley kept Charlie Dixon and Trengove very quiet.
But perhaps even more significant was the game of Irishman Conor McKenna, whose last few weeks have seen him grow rapidly from a project player into a pacy, rebounding defender with sure disposal and plenty of confidence.
Put that alongside the already reliable No.1 draft pick Andy McGrath and veteran James Kelly, and you have a pretty handy backline, one that buzzes with excitement as well as negates.
And this was an exciting evening indeed for the Dons, symbolised by the roar that went up every time McDonald-Tipungwuti went near the ball, the absolute crescendo reached when he gathered the ball on the boundary early in the last term, burnt off his opponent and checksided his third goal of evening.
The final margin was 70Â points, Essendon's win as emphatic as anything they've produced in the last 15 years. More of that in the second half of the season and we have another genuine finals candidate on our hands.
Not that this season is short of them. Which is exactly why no side with that status can afford to let their guard down even briefly in 2017. Just ask Port Adelaide after this spanking.
Votes
Dyson Heppell (Ess) 8
Cale Hooker (Ess) 8
Zach Merrett (Ess) 8
Michael Hurley (Ess) 7
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Ess) 7