Essendon went down by four points to VFL powerhouse Port Melbourne in a close encounter at North Port Oval on Saturday.

Port Melbourne led by as much as 35 point midway through the third quarter; however the Bombers piled on seven goals to two in the final quarter to take the lead late, before a Port Melbourne goal sealed the game.

In a scrappy game of football, the Bombers despite the close loss, were happy with most areas across the ground as midfielder Elliott Kavanagh described.

“There were plenty of positives to take out of today’s game.” Kavanagh said.

“We won the contested ball and the clearance count which is what Port Melbourne are pretty good at so it was good to come out on top in that aspect.”

Ariel Steinberg was again one of the best players on the ground, taking a number of intercept marks and led the way in terms of disposals for the Bombers.

“You just know what you’re going to get with him every week," Kavanagh said.

“He holds up the defence really well, uses the ball and sets up the other defenders also."

VFL listed players Alex Hickey and Sam Taligabue were also among the better players, racking up a number of disposals and hit-outs respectively.

“I spent a lot of time with him (Hickey) playing on the wings so I have a lot of interaction with him."

“Tags (Tagliabue) was brilliant, he rucked all day, basically rucked all season against some of the best in the VFL, and even some AFL rucks as well."

Kavanagh is hoping to focus on getting some consistency and versatility into his game to force his way back into the senior side.

Essendon travel out to the Whitten Oval next Sunday at 12pm as they face another uphill battle against Footscray, aiming to keep their finals hopes alive.

Port Melbourne: 13.8.(86)

Essendon: 12.10.(82)

Goals: Hardingham 3, Thompson, Edwards 2, Tipungwuti, Pears, Aylett, Tagliabue, Schultz

Best: Steinberg, Hardingham, Coghlan, Hickey, Tagliabue, Aylett