SOMETIMES you take the four points, and head for the hills.
Essendon had to battle and grind and overcome a persistent and somewhat spirited Richmond side to record a 23-point victory at the MCG, pulling clear in the final term to secure the 11.15 (81) to 8.10 (58) result in the 21st Dreamtime at the 'G.
It was a dirty night both in terms of general play and on the injury front, with Kyle Langford (quad), Zach Reid (hamstring tightness), Thomson Dow (knee) and no.1 pick Sam Lalor (hamstring) all finishing on the bench.
Richmond's defensive pressure was strong for the first 2.5 terms, but without Tom Lynch, Toby Nankervis and Noah Balta, the Tigers didn't have the class to take advantage of their work, and they completely ran out of steam in the last quarter.
By turn, Essendon's forward entries and disposal in the first half left much to be desired, until the game broke open somewhat halfway through the third term, and the Bombers drove home their advantage.
Debutant Angus Clarke provided a first-half spark with three majors.
Richmond's full-forward line on the team sheet – Jonty Faull, Sam Lalor and Tom Sims – were only drafted in November, and were a year off being born when the first Dreamtime at the G game was played in 2005, while fellow draftee Luke Trainor moved from defence to attack to complete the package.
It was a scrappy opening stanza, to put it mildly. Neither side were able to take a mark in attack, with Essendon's opening goal from Yiooken award winner Nic Martin (35 disposals, two goals) coming from open play, while Tim Taranto's first for Richmond was a miraculous curler assisted by a push.
he malaise settled over the game was summed up by the normally reliable Kamdyn McIntosh (the winger being the Tigers' leading goalkicker in the selected team), who ambled up on his set shot and the ball skewed off the side of boot, falling 15 metres short.
It led to a frustrating back-and-forth game in front of an eerily silent and restless crowd of 76,000 – the Bombers would burst through the middle of the field and kick it over the heads of their forwards, while the Tigers would scrap and scrape their way forward and take overly ambitious shots at goal in the absence of strong targets.
But Essendon's midfield crew of Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham and Zach Merrett began to control proceedings in the third term, sitting 17 ahead in clearances at the final break, while Martin found plenty of ball on the wing, and Archie Roberts provided plenty of bounce out of defence.
Jacob Hopper played a lone hand in the midfield for the Tigers, while Nathan Broad was composed behind the footy in his first game as acting skipper, but Richmond simply didn't have enough winners on the night.
Contested Clarke's delightful debut
It took Friday night's debutant, Essendon's Angus Clarke, to show a touch of class in the error-strewn game. Playing on the wing, he took two diving contested marks in front of goal in the first and second terms against direct opponent Hugo Ralphsmith. He booted three for the term (with the Tiger getting two the other way), and finished with 16 disposals and eight marks.
ESSENDON 2.1 6.4 9.8 11.15 (81)
RICHMOND 1.2 4.7 7.8 8.10 (58)
GOALS
Essendon: Clarke 3, Martin 2, Wright 2, Durham, Caddy, Guelfi, Perkins
Richmond: Taranto 2, Lalor 2, Ralphsmith 2, Faull, Mansell
BEST
Essendon: Martin, Durham, Merrett, Clarke, Caldwell, Goldstein
Richmond: Hopper, Broad, Vlastuin, Banks, Ralphsmith
INJURIES
Essendon: Langford (quad), Reid (hamstring)
Richmond: Dow (knee), Lalor (hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Ben Hobbs (replaced Langford in the second term)
Richmond: Maurice Rioli jnr (replaced Dow at half-time)
Crowd: 76,051 at MCG
