Essendon VFL suffered a heavy loss in its season opener on Friday night, convincingly beaten 24.19 (163) to 12.16 (78) by Geelong.
Despite managing to keep up with the pace for most of a high-scoring first half, a chunk of the damage was done after the main break - the Bombers conceded five unanswered goals in the third term, with the margin even hovering around the 100-point mark into the late stages.
The loss was compounded by an injury to ruck Vigo Visentini, who was ruled out by half-time. Essendon clearly struggled to gain ascendancy at clearance in his absence and were put under the pump with 62 forward entries going Geelong's way.
A shining light for the Dons in difficult circumstances was draftee Jacob Farrow, who finished with 31 disposals in his first official match for the Club.
The youngster's composure and assured distribution by foot was evident, even pushing forward early to hit the scoreboard in the opening-quarter shootout.
Liam McMahon looked lively from the jump with two early goals and a strong contested mark, but he ultimately found delivery more challenging to come by as Geelong took control of the contest over time.
Under a heap of pressure, Kayle Gerreyn (17 disposals, six intercepts) looked the most capable defender early and was commanding in aerial contests. He was moved into the ruck down the stretch as the side tried to adapt to some new looks with Visentini out of the equation.
Archer Day-Wicks (20 disposals, four clearances, one goal) was constant in his willingness to push forward and create scoring opportunities, while skipper Xavier O'Neill (29 touches) and Kristian Ferronato (24 disposals, 12 contested) were among the best from the VFL-listed crop.
Essendon next face North Melbourne at the NEC Hangar from 12:35pm AEDT on Saturday.
GEELONG 7.2 12.8 17.13 24.19 (163)
ESSENDON 5.0 8.2 8.4 12.16 (78)
GOALS
McMahon 2, Scott, O'Neill, Nyko, Jones, Ferronato, Farrow, Day-Wicks, Cox, Binns, Bella
BEST
Farrow, Day-Wicks, O'Neill, Ferronato
