Round 8 2003
ESSENDON v. HAWTHORN

ESSENDON 4.3 7.7 11.11 15.16.106 HAWTHORN 2.4 5.2 7.5 8.5.53 Result: Essendon won by 53 points. Venue: MCG     Crowd: 48,006

ON THIS PAGE: Goals - Report - Injuries - Next Week

	ESSENDON: Cupido 3, Barnard 2, Lucas 2, Mercuri 2, J Johnson, Richards, Reynolds, McGrath, Hille, Winderlich
	HAWTHORN: Thompson 2, Ries, Ladson, Greene, Cox, Everitt, Rawlings

ESSENDON: Mark Johnson, Lucas, Mercuri, Wellman, Solomon, Jacobs, Alessio

It was an underdone Essendon side on paper tonight but that wasn’t the case on the field. A spirited Bomber line-up combined beautifully to defeat Hawthorn by an encouraging 53-points. It was a case of the old and the new leading the Essendon charge. Mark Mercuri, Scott Lucas and Mark Johnson were clearly the Bombers best and the engine room behind the important win. It has unfortunately become the norm for the Bombers this season to head into a match severely undermanned. Could the grandstand hold anymore high calibre Essendon players? James Hird, Matthew Lloyd, Dustin Fletcher, Adam Ramanauskas and Dean Rioli all missed with injury. But the young players that were given the opportunity tonight clearly earned their spot. Ted Richards, Jason Winderlich and Cory McGrath’s form was encouraging. As has become a trend also this season Essendon started slowly and it took them until the 16-minute mark to score their first goal. Hawthorn jumped to an early lead kicking the first two goals. Although the Bombers didn’t convert on the scoreboard until midway through the quarter from the opening bounce the team played with a high intensity and had a ferocious attack on the footy. Paul Barnard kicked the Bombers first goal and it was all one way traffic after this. The Bombers piled on three more goals and controlled the bulk of the traffic. Mark Johnson had seven possessions and his attack on the football resulted in first use of the ball for the Bombers through the middle. He had good support from Jason Johnson who also featured on the scoreboard when he kicked the team’s second goal. Scott Lucas started forward and provided the team with a strong marking across half forward. As he has done all season Dean Solomon continued to tackle and chase hard and attack every contest. Steve Alessio spent most of the quarter in the centre and gave the team first use of the ball at stoppages. Hawthorn hit back at the start of the quarter and booted three quick goals to put them back in front. The Bomber’s intensity lifted again they kicked the next two goal. Mark Mercuri was the catalyst to the team’s charge. He was damaging in the middle and also dangerous up forward – his form was reminiscent of yester year. Essendon could have extended their 17-point lead at half-time if they had been accurate in front of goal. The team was not rewarded on the scoreboard for their work in the second quarter. David Hille, Mercuri, Mark Johnson and Lucas all missed set shots from close range that could have put the team further in front. Joel Reynolds made a bit of amends when he snapped the Bombers’ sixth at the 21 minute mark to push the lead out to ten points. But the first half came in the dying seconds of the quarter when Damian Cupido came off the bench and booted his first goal for the night. The new recruit ran around Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge and kicked a classy goal from close to the boundary from 35m out. Hawthorn came out firing after half-time but it was short lived. They booted the first goal within seconds of the opening siren but it was all Essendon after that. The Bombers piled on the next three goals. Lucas started the goal charge when he took a strong overhead mark on his second grab in the forward 50m and converted. One goal wasn’t enough for Lucas and he kicked his second within minutes. Cory McGrath then got in on the goal action and kicked long goal from 50m out to push the lead out to 31-points. Mark Johnson continued to run riot in the middle – he has 18 disposals in the first three quarters. Hawthorn kicked a much needed goal midway through the quarter to keep them in touch with Essendon but Mercuri put the first nail in the Hawks coffin when he skilfully kicked the team’s 11th goal. Essendon headed into the last break with a healthy 30-point lead. It was Hawthorn again who kicked the first goal of the quarter but it wasn’t enough. Hille put another nail in Hawthorn’s coffin when he booted the team’s 12th for the night. In his second senior appearance Jason Winderlich kicked his first goal and put the result beyond doubt midway through the quarter. Cupdio stretched the lead out further when he kicked the final two goals of the match. It was a much improved performance by the Bombers tonight. They played consistent football across four quarters and their intensity and attack on the football was second to none. The win will put them back in the eight and give them confidence heading into next wee k’s clash against Port Adelaide.

> MORE PHOTOS...

Relive the match! Each week we present live scores and live reports throughout the match. So if you missed the game, or just want to relive what happened, click on one of the links below to read all about it. FIRST QUARTER REPORT... SECOND QUARTER REPORT... THIRD QUARTER REPORT... FOURTH QUARTER REPORT...

	Mad Dog's Fan Rant - Round 8, Tuesday, 18 May 2010
	Weekend Rewind: Round 8 vs St Kilda, Monday, 17 May 2010
	Highlights: Round 8 vs St Kilda, Monday, 17 May 2010
	Knights proud of his leaders, Monday, 17 May 2010
	Matthew Knights' Selection Table: Rd 8, Friday, 14 May 2010
	Match Highlights: Round 8, Monday, 18 May 2009
	Weekend Rewind: Round 8, Monday, 18 May 2009
	Ricky Dyson Press Conference, Monday, 18 May 2009
	Matthew Knights Press Conference, Sunday, 17 May 2009
	Best 22: Round 8, Thursday, 14 May 2009
	Matthew Knights Press Conference, Tuesday, 12 May 2009
	Bomber Radio - May 20 2007, Sunday, 20 May 2007 (Engine Room only)
	Bomber Radio - 21 May 2006, Monday, 22 May 2006 (Engine Room only)
	Bomber Radio - 15 May 2005, Monday, 16 May 2005 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: PETER BANFIELD INTERVIEW, Monday, 17 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: ROBERT SHAW INTERVIEW, Monday, 17 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: SEAN WELLMAN INTERVIEW - PART 2, Monday, 17 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: SEAN WELLMAN INTERVIEW - PART 1, Monday, 17 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: DR REID INTERVIEW, Monday, 17 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: KEVIN SHEEDY POST MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE, Saturday, 15 May 2004 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: MATTHEW LLOYD INTERVIEW, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: DAVID HILLE TAKES TALKBACK, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: KEVIN SHEEDY INTERVIEW, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: DAVID HILLE INTERVIEW, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 (Engine Room only)
	ROUND 8: KEVIN SHEEDY POST MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE, Saturday, 17 May 2003 (Engine Room only)

ESSENDON   HAWTHORN 215 Kicks 179 94 Handballs 99 80 Marks 84 31 Hitouts 34 39 Tackles 52 9 Free kicks 12 View all individual player stats for this game...

Matthew Lloyd(groin)and James Hird (calf) replaced in the selected side by Cory McGrath and Ted Richards.

Round 9 v Port Adelaide at The Dome on Friday, May 23rd.