Essendon have fallen short of victory, going down to the Sydney Swans by five points in a thrilling match at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Despite trailing early on in the game, a resurgent Swans outfit staged an impressive comeback before hitting the lead late in the match and hanging on for the 14.14 (98) to 13.15 (93) win.

Early on, it appeared Essendon could repeat last week's rout of the Western Bulldogs as they asserted their dominance early, dashing out to a 17-point quarter-time lead.

However, the Swans re-grouped in the following stanza, allowing more run and carry and entering the main break with much-needed momentum.

When Swans pair Jude Bolton and Josh Kennedy opened the second half with back-to-back goals the Swans were sudden two-point leaders and looking the more assured of the two sides before fading late to trail by 10 points at three-quarter time.

A shootout then ensued between the two sides in the final quarter, going goal-for-goal before Jude Bolton's goal with three minutes to go saw his side hit the front by five points, a lead they refused to relinquish until the final siren.

For Sydney, Bolton was instrumental in the win, standing up when required and finishing with 25 possessions and three goals while teammate Ryan O'Keefe led the disposals count, collecting 27 touches.

Are you one? Help Essendon get to 50,000 members in 2011 by signing up to support James Hird and the team through an official membership.

Essendon captain Jobe Watson continued his impressive start to the year with 24 disposals while youngster Dyson Heppell followed on from last week's NAB Rising Star nomination with 21 of his own.

Jobe Watson dominated in the midfield for the Bombers, who were without number one ruckman David Hille.

Essendon had the better of the opening term thanks to back-up big man Tom Bellchambers and Watson in the middle, along with Patrick Ryder and Hurley up forward.

The Bombers then surged to a 28-point advantage when Heath Hocking booted a brilliant 50-metre running goal mid-way through second quarter.

In a see-sawing final term, the lead kept changing hands. Swan Ben McGlynn made the most of some trademark toughness from Dan Hannebery to put the Swans up by two points.

Then Hurley snapped an extraordinary goal from hard up against the boundary.

It seemed the Swans might be involved in consecutive draws when the scores were level at the 15-minute mark of the final term, but instead they scored a gutsy victory.

Sydney Swans 1.5  6.8  10.11  14.14 (98)
Essendon 4.4  8.7  12.9  13.15 (93)

GOALS
Sydney Swans: McGlynn 3, Bolton 3, White 2, Bevan 2, Goodes, Kennedy, Rohan, O’Keefe
Essendon: Ryder 2, Crameri 2, Winderlich 2, Hurley 2, Jetta, Davey, Hocking, McVeigh

BEST
Sydney Swans: Goodes, Bevan, Bolton, McGlynn, O’Keefe, Grundy, Hannebery
Essendon: Watson, Stanton, Hurley, Heppell, Bellchambers, Ryder, Davey

INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Nil
Essendon: Hille (hip) replaced by Alwyn Davey

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Craig Bird replaced by Brett Meredith in the last quarter
Essendon: Stewart Crameri replaced by Nathan Lovett-Murray in the last quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosbury, Pannel, Jennings

Official crowd: 28, 082 at ANZ Stadium