A decisive edge in the clearances in the last quarter has seen the Bombers runaway from the Kangaroos to record a 27-point win at Etihad Stadium.

The Bombers won the opening 15 clearances of the final term and finished with a 16-1 advantage when the game was on the line.

It triggered a seven goal to four burst to close out the match after the side struggled to generate much fluency in the opening three quarters.

The Dons used the ball at an efficiency rate of 56 per cent in the first half, but lifted that to 72 per cent by the final siren.

“We felt like if we could keep working away and slowly break down the game, we thought we’d be able to run over them,” Essendon midfielder Zach Merrett said.

“But credit to them, they played a super game and their kids are going really well and put a lot of pressure on around the footy.

“As a group we eventually got on top of them, but they were super for three quarters.

“It was a real grind.”

Merrett finished with 33 possessions and three tackles as the Bombers conceded more than 100 points for the fifth time from their 17 games.

“We’ll learn a lot from today,” Merrett said.

“We scored really well and kicked 20 goals but we can’t be giving up 100 points every game, so we’ll certainly look at that.

“Hopefully next week we’ll bounce back even stronger.”

The win lifts the Bombers into the top eight midway through the round and ahead of clash with the Western Bulldogs next Sunday.