ESSENDON:

SYDNEY:

Fittingly, the hero of the stirring win was Bomber big man Steve Alessio, who booted his fourth goal with just five seconds remaining on the clock to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.

Alessio, whose tenure in the side has been under question, responded in emphatic fashion to take a towering mark 30 metres out under pressure and duly convert.

Sydney controlled the match for most of the game and held onto a 27-point lead when Paul Williams kicked the opening goal of the final quarter. Yet, typical of the never-say-die attitude for which they are renowned, the home side – somehow sensing they were still a chance – began to dominate the centre takeaways to boot six of the last seven goals.

Perhaps the foundations for the turnaround where laid in the third term. Essendon could manage just two goals to half-time and appeared headed for their third consecutive loss for the first time in almost three years. Yet during a dour third quarter, the Bombers were able to slightly outscore the Swans to carry some momentum into the final quarter.

In contrast to the exciting finish, scoring proved extremely difficult for both sides in the opening term, such was the ferocious tackling and general pressure applied all over the ground. Sydney’s Jude Bolton finally broke the goal drought after 18 minutes when he crumbed a marking contest between Dustin Fletcher and Michael O’Loughlin. The Swans added another inside a minute when Daniel McPherson goaled on the run, before Joe Misiti answered for the Bombers with an unconvincing snap that fortuitously broke the right way to bounce through.

Blake Caracella was signalling his intent to step up in the absence of Hird and Lloyd, racking up 10 possessions in the first stanza. But it was the visitors who were clearly travelling the better, when Matthew Nicks put his side 15 points clear within a minute of the resumption of play.

Essendon supporters were entitled to feel hard done by when a tough umpiring call on Aaron Henneman handed Greg Stafford a gimme goal. Their frustrations would only have intensified when Steve Alessio and Scott Lucas both found the woodwork from ‘gettable’ set shots.

Conversely, their opponents – who had Nicks and ruckman Jason Ball starring – could do little wrong and when the latter kicked his side’s seventh, Sydney had shot out to a 30-point lead.

Against the tide, Damien Hardwick was playing a virtual lone hand for the Bombers across half-back, but unfortunately his teammates could not capitalise on his admirable rebounding efforts.

Many of them were clearly down on confidence, a fact most evident when Adam Ramanauskas was rewarded for a copybook tackle on Bolton, only to hit the post with his resultant free kick from 30 metres out, directly in front. Perhaps it is unfair to single out Ramanauskas (who redeemed himself with a goal late in the third term), as player after player made uncharacteristic errors.

But as we have seen so often in recent years, this Essendon side is never out of the contest. Given the Swans had controlled the match for the best part of three quarters, it would have been easy for those players down on form to drop their heads when Mick O’Loughlin restored the Swans lead to 22 points midway through the final term. But quick replies from Barnard and Alessio quickly reduced the margin to four points, before the latter took his crucial mark in the dying stages.

In addition to the loss of their two gun forwards, Essendon was further depleted when Solomon and Mark Johnson failed to take their places in the selected side, while John Barnes was ruled out on Friday night with an achilles complaint.

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