Bombers manage to hold off Dockers

IT WAS almost appropriate that a David Myers miracle miskick from the boundary basically sealed Essendon’s 10th win of the season.

The Bombers beat the Dockers almost in spite of themselves, dominating the stats sheets, racking up 34 scoring shots from 63 inside 50s, but only just getting over the line late

To sum up, it was expectation murdered by execution.

Endeavour and effort were everywhere, from both teams in fact. It was a spirited encounter for sure.

A lot of teams do have to survive a bit on spirit at this stage of the season but those spirits should be heightened when you think you are a sniff of featuring in September. And Essendon’s season sort of came alive before the ball was bounced at Etihad Stadium.

North Melbourne losing to Collingwood was a tick then the Swans, Essendon’s opponent next week, were on the wrong end of the rising Suns, taking their win total to just one in the past month.

The long-range forecast, with an expected win over Fremantle to be ticked off, was suddenly a bit more blue sky for the Bombers, despite their percentage woes, courtesy of that dark and stormy start to the season.

And the stats sheet was on script too. There was 28 more inside 50s, 61 more disposals, 13 more clearances, 18 more marks. The Bombers even caught up late to win the free kicks. Really, they did.

Matches however are not won on a stats sheet, and the tension that gripped the 31,546 under the roof until the final five minutes was testament to watching a team which just doesn’t quite have the all-round polish it would need even if it was to advance to the post-season. ESSENDON V FREMANTLE 2.5 4.11 9.16 13.21 4.0 7.1 10.4 11.4