Eagles survive battling Bombers

West Coast 16.17 (113) def. Essendon 14. 8 (92)

The West Coast Eagles have taken a step towards conquering the demons of their Melbourne hoodoo, defeating Essendon in an enthralling contest by 21 points at the Telstra Dome this afternoon.

For West Coast it was their first venture to Melbourne since Grand Final day last season, having all pre-season and premiership matches to date around Australia, places such as Canberra, Adelaide and Alice Springs, to add to several already staged at Subiaco.

The record for both teams at the dome is vastly different, with the Bombers near faultless the Eagles however have only won six from 19 previous games before today under the roofed stadium.

Essendon’s season, tipped as a finalist before it began, has gone from bad to worse with the club nailed to the foot of the table on one win from eight matches and with seemingly no way out. Hit hard by injuries with new club captain, and goal kicking ace, Matthew Lloyd joined on the sidelines by former skipper and veteran James Hird.

The Bombers have come under a lot of scrutiny since their round one win over the reigning premier Sydney, though legendary mentor Kevin Sheedy refuses to buy into talk of his demise coming in the near future.

Instead this week the long serving coach paid tribute to his Eagles opponents with reference to the Flintstones and the players being like cavemen because of their lofty heights.

Very often do we hear Sheedy talk up opposition clubs in this way, but the rivalry between these two clubs goes back to 1993 when the Bombers coach famously waved his jacket around his head in the opening match thriller that season in which his Essendon side snatched a two-point win against the odds.

Hint to the AFL, maybe in season 2007 rivalry round can feature these two clubs instead.

West Coast captain Chris Judd celebrated today, playing his 100th game of a possibly 102 since he was drafted at the 2001 national draft.

Whether it is the best ever first 100 is something that will be argued for many years to come. One thing we all know is that he is a champion player who will hopefully stay in the Eagles nest for many more years to come.

The match began with a late change in the Bombers line-up, Sheedy’s mind games at its best as youngster Henry Slattery was given a fitness test on his suspect hamstring moments before the team ran out, having failed that he was swapped with Joel Reynolds, who was forced to dash into the change rooms as the first bounce was made.

Despite the Eagles venturing inside 50 first, it was the Bombers who were first on the board through Dean Solomon after three minutes. The utility hovered over Eagles back-man David Wirrpunda and easily grasped the incoming ball.

A comedy of errant kicks followed as both teams battled for the elusive second major. Eagle Beau Waters had three opportunities to notch his team first goal, while Andrew Lovett narrowly missed when he was handed the ball by an Eagle defender two metres from the line.

The Eagles hit the front, following four consecutive behinds, with a brilliant goal from Judd. A minute later Scott Lucas fumbled the ball into the Bomber post only for the quick restart clearance to end up with a sliding Daniel Chick at the other end who nabbed the Eagles second goal.

Chick was then seen going down the players’ race, shaken and stirred after a defense collision with Bomber Courtney Johns and team mate Darren Glass. Lucas and Ashley Hansen traded goals late in the quarter as the Eagles took a slender seven-point lead into the first break.

Essendon could not grasp the chances on offer to take the lead in the second quarter after the first minute goal from Brent Stanton. Johns and acting captain David Hille both missed relatively easy shots on goal, while Eagles utility Chick snapped truly from the 50-metre arc centre and just cleared a goal line pack.

Andrew Embley soured high to take a mark of the year contender, while Bomber Angus Monfries levelled the scores with a 13th minute set shot. West Coast then shot out to a 13-point lead with a double from Quinten Lynch, his second came courtesy of a free kick that was questionable, though deserving for a jumper hold.

Mark McVeigh had the task of minding Judd during the second term, with the Eagles superstar resting in the forward line ahead of what was tipped to be another second half blitz.

With half time approaching the Bombers managed to kick two in a row, from Andrew Lovett and Ricky Dyson, while also starting a brawl that threatened to boil over into an all-in brawl after the siren had sounded.

At the main interval, West Coast led by one-point with youngster Adam Selwood the leading disposal gatherer on the field with 17 touches, while Andrew Welsh led the Bomber army on 16 disposals.

Former Bulldog player, now Essendon runner, Paul Dimattina is set to come under the match review panel for getting involved in the action during the second term, not only did he obstruct play but he also grabbed at Eagle ruckman Dean Cox’s jumper during the half time scuffle between the players.

Lynch gave the Eagles a great start to the second half with the first two goals, and his fourth consecutive. A show of strength saw him outmuscle Bomber fullback Dustin Fletcher to snaffle the mark.

However, the Bombers would not lie down with Lucas and Lovett hitting back with the next two goals that left the advantage in favour of the Eagles by one point after seven minutes.

Chick kicked his third goal, in the 11th minute, as tensions again appeared to boil over. However, the Bombers regrouped and on the back of three straight goals from Adam McPhee, Johns and Solomon they wrestled the lead from the Eagles grasp.

Up by two goals and seemingly with the umpires on their side, the Bombers found the general play easier than there more fancied opponents. While Chick slotted through his fourth, somewhat against the run of play, a dubious 50 metre penalty on reserve ruckman Mark Seaby allowed Solomon to kick from the top of the goal square moments before the three-quarter-time siren.

West Coast regained the lead and surged ahead by 13 points after 10 minute of the final quarter with Hansen, Chick and Dean Cox amongst the goal scorers, however the Bombers had one last rally inside them as Jason Laycock and McPhee put the luckless outfit within a point again.

Jaymie Graham steadied as time-on approached, while poor discipline by Lovett-Murray saw Michael Braun marched 50 metres downfield as the Eagles went inside their attacking 50 for the 16th time in the term.

With a little over five minutes to play Embley calmly slotted the knockout blow, while Hansen gave the visitors a percentage boost with a late goal.

Next week, it doesn’t get any easier for the ladder leading West Coast Eagles when Melbourne travel to Subiaco for a ‘Sunday special’ that will be seen live on Fox Footy around Australia. Essendon host a fellow struggler in the Power from Port Adelaide at the Telstra Dome next Saturday night.

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