Bombers Cruise Through Eagles' Nest
The Essendon Bombers accounted for the West Coast Eagles in a match in which the Eagles recorded their ninth consecutive loss. The Eagles were more competitive than last week, but lacked the class of Essendon's forward entries. The Eagles made two more attacking forays than the Bombers but their delivery and goal kicking was poor. At the other end, Essendon were more efficient in attack and were far more accurate with their set shots at goal.
The Eagles began by applying good pressure in the midfield, but Zach Merrett and Mason Redman gained plenty of possessions for the Bombers and the run of Nic Martin gave the Bombers more opportunities. Within the first thirty seconds Jake Stringer had kicked to Kyle Langford who marked and goaled. The Don's next two goals came from snaps from Redmond and Archie Perkins. The Eagles didn't panic and kept to their game plan of using the ball across the field to spread play. At the fifteen-minute mark they moved the ball across the 50 meter arc to Oscar Allen who marked (caught the ball) and kicked truly from long range. Two minutes later a chain of passes out of defense ended with Allen booting his second. The quarter was then evenly balanced until Essendon scored the last goal, after Sam Draper laid a good tackle on Bailey Williams to win a free kick.
