Essendon has claimed its second win of the season in a come-from-behind thriller against Hawthorn in round eight.

After trailing by as much as 17 points halfway through the second quarter, the Bombers snatched the lead for the first time three minutes into the final term and held their nerve from thereon in in an often brutal match.

Led by spearhead Caleb Logan, whose six-goal haul took his season tally to 27 from seven matches to move to third on the VWFL goal tally, as well as a tireless defensive performance from Miranda Charlton, Essendon scored 4.4 to 1.1 in the final quarter to extend its lead to 13 points by the final buzzer and win 8.15 (63) to 8.2 (50).

James Leonard moved from the midfield to the backline late in the match to kerb Hawthorn forward Peter Oguneyemi, who was almost single-handedly pulling his side to victory with seven goals.

After coaching from the sidelines in the first half, captain Louis Rowe played a pivotal role in the second half as he got his hands on the ball and snare two goals of his own.

“We started very cold,” Rowe admitted after the match.

“There was no intensity and no talk, so I got into them at half-time and three-quarter-time that we really had to build up the communication and our blocking and working together, which we did in the last quarter.

“We’ve really been improving on our intensity, which showed last week against the Saints when we got to within one goal.”

The win pushes Essendon to fourth on the five-team ladder and looking to face the second-placed Richmond in round nine on Sunday August 5 at Boroondara Sports Complex.

ESSENDON          1.3    3.8    4.11  8.15   (63)
HAWTHORN         2.0    6.0    7.1    8.2     (50)

GOALS
Essendon – Logan 6, Rowe 2
Hawthorn – Oguneyemi 7, O’Halloran