Essendon is through to a semi final after a nine-goal final term helped seal a remarkable win against Geelong at North Port Oval on Saturday.

The Bombers trailed by 22 points early in the final term but stole all the momentum to run away with a 22-point win, 21.6 (132) to Geelong’s 17.8 (110).

The Bombers play and adoring crowd sent North Port into a frenzy.

James Polkinghorne was a star of the day and stepped up when it counted most, finishing the day with 26 disposals and four second half goals.

The Bombers young brigade of Aaron Francis, Mason Redman and Nash Holmes also stood out on the big stage in their first VFL final.

The day started in style, matching the Cats in every aspect of the game and opening up a 31 point lead at quarter time.

Francis, Redman, Jackson Merrett and Jake Long all added one, while Will Hams and Holmes kicked two to help get the Bombers away in a scintillating opening term against their more fancied opponent.

The Cats came back in the second term however and kept the Bombers to a single behind. The Cats, led by the likes Nakia Cockatoo and Michael Luxford, booted five goals to take the lead by three points at half time.

 The third term was a real arm wrestle, with the Bombers looking like they were fighting to just stay in the game. The Cats kicked six goals, but two goals each from Polkinghorne and Mark Jamar kept the Bombers to within 16 points at the final change.

The Bombers season seemed to be slipping away with Cockatoo extending the Cats lead early in the final term.

The switch was hit when Jackson Merrett kicked an outstanding dribble goal from deep in the pocket in front of a sea of red and black.

Polkinghorne then booted his third, before Francis brought the crowd to its feet with a chase down tackle, then finding the ball shortly after and kick a goal from well beyond 50 metres.

Sam Heavyside’s first goal gave the Bombers back the lead; his second just minutes later gave them a nine-point buffer 13 minutes into the last quarter.

Nick Kommer had a sensational day, showing his experience with 21 touches and a goal heading into time on to push the lead beyond two straight kicks.

A goal from George Horlin-Smith kept the Cats alive but a brilliant bullet like pass from Merrett set up McKenna who restored the 16-point margin.

Goals from Nash Holmes, who finished the day with three and Polkinghorne’s fourth capped off the comeback win.

Aaron Heppell finished the day with 26 disposals while Hams, who battled sickness all week in the lead up to Saturday, had 23 touches and two goals.

Redman had 22 disposals, Kommer, Ben Dobson and Shaun Edwards all finished with 21 while Holmes kicked three goals from 15 touches.

Jamar, Francis, Merrett and Heavyside all booted two majors.

VFL coach Matthew Egan said he was extremely proud of his players post match.

“It was a really good first quarter and we felt like a lot was going right, then we spent the next two quarters trying to figure out a way to get back in the game,” Egan said.

“The good thing at three quarter time was we were only down by 16 points so it wasn’t like we had to radically change everything and go all out attack.

“We needed to fix a few things and get our contest work right and chip away at the result, it took a couple of goals to get the momentum going our way.

“We moved a few small things around in the last quarter but most of it was mindset and a few players really helped us get the win.”

The Bombers dominated clearances, winning 64 to Geelong’s 37 and were plus eight in the fourth term.

“Russian (Jamar) in the ruck was huge in clearances and Polky’s second half was enormous, not only to kick goals but also to create goals and space for us,” Egan said.

“It was good to see Mason Redman gather some form, he’s had a rough sort of month but worked really hard and he found a way to lift us.

“Hamsy was again solid around the ball and Heppell was outstanding playing mostly on Horlin-Smith and limited him to around 20 possessions and got 26 himself.

“Nick Kommer was really important for our set ups and structure, was good to see him impact the scoreboard once but I reckon he would have had four or five assists.”

Egan said the atmosphere created by the massive show of Essendon supporters was inspirational.

“This ground is awesome for that atmosphere, the Essendon fans always come out in big numbers for these games,” he said.

“Hopefully they can keep coming to the VFL and support us as their team because we are Essendon.”

The Bombers will take their belief gained from today’s win into a match against Footscray next weekend.

“If that win doesn’t give the players confidence I’m not sure what will,” Egan said.

“It’s do or die every week so we can’t dwell on beating Geelong today too much, we enjoy it for 15 minutes after the game then it’s into preparing for next week.

“We play the Bulldogs next week who will be a really challenging opponent.”