Essendon has fallen agonisingly short of a VFL Grand Final appearance, going down to Box Hill by seven points in Saturday's Preliminary Final.
In a prelim matchup between two of the better defensive VFL units, more than 3,000 fans were treated to a surprisingly free-flowing, end-to-end display of finals footy – 11 combined goals in a blistering first term setting the tone for the day.
Jade Gresham was firing on all cylinders early, booting three first-quarter goals and sparking an electric start to the contest.
An up-and-about Nik Cox (also with three goals) looked the most imposing key forward on the park and started his day in good touch, clunking one-handed marks and banging in majors from outside the arc.
Skipper Xavier O’Neill charged inside 50 to kick truly and edge his side back in front in the second term after an impressive Box Hill response, but the home side were again combative and fought their way back into the lead by half time.
From there it was an utter arm wrestle. Contest wins became more and more crucial down the stretch and although the Dons battled away manfully on the inside without Will Setterfield (a late omission to knee soreness), the Hawks’ class began to shine through.
Facing a nine-point deficit in the final term, a brilliant quick-thinking goal from Zak Johnson (22 touches) brought the travelling Bomber faithful to its feet, setting the stage for a tense final 10 minutes.
In dramatic circumstances and under immense Box Hill heat, the Dons went all-out on the attack and even with the chances they were able to generate, the pressure proved too much.
After a couple of late Bomber misses, a Cox goal from point-blank ignited the contest once again but the Hawks held firm to cling on.
Tyler Sellers was monstrous behind the ball and capped off his outstanding season with arguably his best outing to date – 27 disposals and 11 marks as well as a game-high 14 intercept possessions.
His defensive partner Deacon Kalpakis was equally impressive batting away Box Hill entries, lapping up 12 marks from 21 disposals.
Elijah Tsatas (30 touches, nine inside 50s) and Jackson Hately (21 disposals) fought tooth-and-nail in the guts for the Dons.
Box Hill will now play the winner of Geelong and Port Melbourne in next week’s Grand Final.
It’s a devastating finish to what’s been a dream VFL run for the Club after eight consecutive wins but the Bombers now set their sights on 2027.
BOX HILL 5.3 9.8 12.11 13.17 (95)
ESSENDON 6.1 9.3 11.8 13.10 (88)
GOALS
Gresham 3, Cox 3, McMahon 2, Dowling 2, Guelfi, O'Neill, Johnson
BEST
Sellers, Johnson, Tsatas, Kalpakis, Cox, Gresham
