Essendon Bombers: end week of scrutiny, shock West Coast Eagles

Jobe Watson led the Essendon Bombers to a miraculous win against the West Coast Eagles on Thursday night after suffering a week of intense scrutiny when the Brownlow medallist admitted earlier in the week to using a banned substance last season.

Watson shook off a uncharacteristic first half to help the Bombers fight back from a number of seemingly big second half deficits, eventually squeezing out a 15.8.(98)-13.13.(91) win in front of a hostile Perth crowd at Patersons Stadium thanks to last minute goals from Jake Carlisle and Dyson Heppell.

Met with harsh boos each time he touched the ball, Watson helped turnaround a lacklustre first half to finish with a team-high 29 disposals, seven clearances and two goals.

Essendon kicked the first three goals of the fourth quarter to steal a one-point lead, but Mark LeCras’ goal with eight minutes remaining gave the home side a six-point buffer. As time ticked away, David Myers delivered a long, pinpoint delivery inside 50 to a streaming Carlisle, who then went back and tied the game at 91 each with a big 25th minute bang from 50. A behind to Nick Kommer and a last second goal to Heppell sealed the gutsy win for the Bombers.

Essendon lost forward Stewart Crameri in the third quarter and found themselves down by as much as three goals on two occasions after West Coast managed at one point 14 of the 18 scoring opportunities over a period stretching between the second and third quarters, however a number of clever moves by coach James Hird, including moving a struggling Michael Hurley onto influential forward Jack Darling helped turn the tide as the Essendon midfield took control of the contest.

Brent Stanton (27 disposals) and David Zaharakis (26), despite cooling off after gathering eight touches early in the opening term, provided reliable sidekicks to Watson in an off night for Brendan Goddard. Jason Winderlich kicked three goals and Jake Carlisle, impressive in defence for the first half, was also a solid option when moved forward in exchange for Hurley, kicking the vital goal in the final stages of the match.

Tall ruckmen Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui didn’t have their usual dominant performances against an impressive Patty Ryder, however West Coast’s forward line of LeCras, Darling and Josh Kennedy were brilliant for much of the game, combining to kick eight goals and take 19 marks. Matt Priddis played a typically hard, physical game to lead the Eagles with 32 touches.