Essendon 5.2 7.3 8.5 11.6.72
Hawthorn 1.3 4.4 7.7 10.9.69
Goals:
Essendon: Milne 4, Blumfield, Caracella, Misiti, M Johnson, Fletcher, Jacobs, Bolton.
Hawthorn: Lord 3, Baird 2, Cox, Collica, Harford, Thompson, Woods.
Essendon got off to a great start, kicking the first four goals of the game including two by supplementary list player Stephen Milne. Mark Johnson was thrilling the crowd with heavy bumps and high flies.
It was looking all too easy for the Bombers in the first quarter, but after quarter time Hawthorn came out much stronger. They kicked the last three goals of the half to have a chance in the match. The third quarter really belonged to Hawthorn, kicking three goals to the Bombers solitary goal by Dustin Fletcher.
The final term was very even as both teams didn't want to give up the opportunity to impress the London crowd. Essendon kicked the first two goals of the quarter very early to get a handy lead, but Hawthorn struck back including two goals in a minute by Baird. The final margin of three points gave the crowd something to remember the game by.
After the game the Cup was accepted by Justin Blumfield, who was captain for the game, and Mark Harvey, who was coach. Kevin Sheedy took part in the game, but gave Mark Harvey the top job which he said was a great experience.
The Bombers looked like running away with the game after the first quarter, but as Kevin Sheedy pointed out after the match, it was a better spectacle and advertisement for our game that the result was close. But it was a good result for Essendon to win its final game of 1999 before the end of season break. Soon the preparation for the 2000 season will begin...
