Essendon VFL were overrun late by reigning premiers Footscray in their Easter Sunday curtain raiser, going down by 47 points at Marvel Stadium.
With the Bombers down two players after half time due to injury concerns for Angus Clarke (foot) and Harry Jones (calf), the Bulldogs eventually got off the leash in the final term and booted seven majors to one, generating an unflattering scoreline after what had been an exciting back-and-forth contest for most of the day.
The return of Nick Bryan from his ACL injury was a major positive, the ruck working his way into the game and adapting to the pace well to finish with 27 hitouts, 10 touches and five tackles.
The Dons got off to a hot start in an opening quarter which held 10 combined goals, piling on four of the first five in quick succession with Jones and key forward Liam McMahon (two goals each) providing super dangerous targets in the early stages.
With Jones and Clarke ruled out early, Nik Cox was thrown forward and created a very difficult matchup for the Dogs' defence - he slotted two of his own, set up multiple scores and took five marks for an improved display in a relatively makeshift role given the circumstances.
Bomber fans were reminded of Jordan Ridley's class in his second game on return from injury, the defender going at 89 per cent from 18 possessions, another positive step forward in his build back to action.
Jayden Nguyen continued to show promise as a pressure forward with manic efforts and some key contested wins. When the contest was at its most heated early, he was at his best, finishing with 17 touches, six marks and four score involvements.
Elijah Tsatas was again the most active at clearances with nine, also accumulating 14 contested possessions from his 35 touches on the day.
Tyler Sellers was a wall in defence, taking 11 marks and venturing forward to boot a ripping goal from outside 50.
The VFL Dons will have a bye this week for Gather Round before they head north to face the SUNS on Saturday, April 18 in another curtain raiser at People First Stadium.
FOOTSCRAY 5.1 8.3 11.6 18.10 (118)
ESSENDON 5.3 8.7 9.8 10.11 (71)
GOALS
McMahon 2, Cox 2, Jones 2, El Achkar, Binns, Ferronato, Sellers
BEST
Sellers, Binns, Tsatas, Nguyen, Cox
