An emotional Hayden Skipworth has lauded the five-goal performance delivered by Captain Matthew Lloyd in a nail-biting four-point victory over arch-rivals Carlton at the MCG tonight.

“Lloydy was excellent. He was back to his old self, leading out and taking big grabs,” Skipworth said.

“He worked hard all day up forward and led by example when it came to inspiring the team.”

Carlton capitalised on their ability to win the ball out of the middle early - mainly thanks to a brilliant Chris Judd - and had the Bombers chasing a 20-point lead at the first break.

Essendon fought back in the second term, repairing the damage of a dismal first quarter with a brilliant seven-goal performance. Essendon worked much harder around the stoppages and were rewarded. It was an intentisty they retained the the rest of the match.
Skipworth praised his teammates’ ability to regroup and produce three quarters of competitive football in order to seal the Club's most significant win in recent years.

“They got the jump on in the first quarter and we were off a bit,” Skipworth said.

“To our credit, we stuck it out in the second term and worked ourselves back into the game.

“I think after quarter time we improved our pressure around the ball and just got up in their face a bit and it paid off in the end.”

Competitive football made for an exciting match but Skipworth admits the win was made that much sweeter given the long-standing rivalry between the two sides.

“It was excellent. Carlton have looked good this year with two wins on board and it was always going to be a tough game but we just got over the line,” he said.

“It is definitely emotional for the boys and it was good to see an even performance across the board with everyone contributing.

“Apparently we don’t like Carlton so it was definitely a good win!”

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