Essendon assistant coach, Ashley Prescott, said today’s 35-point win against traditional rival Carlton showed the spirit and development of the Bomber playing group.

“To get to a point down and dig deep the way they did was fantastic,” Prescott said.

“It shows a fair bit to get headed and come back but we know this group have a fair bit of sprit and what it probably shows us is the improvement in some of the younger blokes.

“They are really starting to step up and get an understanding of what is required at AFL level and I think you will find that Carlton and Essendon have some fantastic battles over the next five-six years.”

Prescott said losing Slattery to an accidental knock to the head when he collided with Fevola running back in the first quarter made things tough.

“It threw us out a bit but the way Knighta got the rotations going and used different players in different positions was really good,” he said.

“Our guys showed a fair bit of spirit because Carlton came back and they certainly made the most of their opportunities, Carlton, they kicked some freakish goals.”

Slattery is believed to have a small crack in his cheekbone and is expected to miss at least two weeks.

Prescott was full of praise for Angus Monfries who was one of the Bombers’ best.

“The beauty of him is that he not only works front and centre but he leads up at the footy and his work rate has been sensational,” he said.

“The way he trains and goes about it and tries to improve his game is fantastic so it’s good to see him get some reward.

“I also thought young Myers was fantastic, Fletcher was great, I thought Jetta worked hard too in the forward line, McPhee was tremendous across half forward and presented up and Stanton ran exceptionally hard for four quarters.”

The Bombers got off to the perfect start with a quick kick out of the centre from Watson in the opening seconds hitting Lloyd. The captain went back and kicked truly from outside 50m.

A sickening clash stopped play for five minutes when Slattery ran backwards and received an accidental high-speed knee to the head from Fevola and was stretchered off.

When play resumed the Bombers struck first with Jetta curling through a goal and when Monfries roved off hands Essendon went up 19-points.

A Hille handball to Lloyd near the goal-square saw him bring up his second – the Bombers fourth – before the Blues finally got their first goal through Betts.

McVeigh responded quickly with a snapped six-pointer before a free kick and goal to Monfries from 45m out made the margin 33-points.

A strong mark 40m out one-minute later to Neagle got the Bombers their seventh and final major for the quarter.

Watson was creative and finished the quarter with 10 pocessions and a dangerous Monfries had nine and two goals to help the Bombers to a 39-point quarter time lead.

A different Blues came out in the second quarter and almost immediately hit Fevola on the lead in front of goals.

They kept targeting him and he soon had his second for the day but the Bombers struck back with Stanton finding Neagle who kicked his second from 50m out.

The match tightened up for the next 10 minutes before a great tackle by Jetta in the Blues forward 50m saw the ball spill to Carrazzo who goaled.

Fevola used his body to knock Fletcher off the ball and turned to slot through his third for the quarter and Carlton’s fifth for the game.

Momentum was swinging but the Blues couldn’t capitalise further and finished the half with the Bombers still up 23-points.
 

Both teams started the third slowly before a big Ryder mark on the wing added some spice.

A beautiful centering kick from Reimers to Jetta saw him stream into goal and handball to Monfries for his third major.
 

The Blues responded through a free to Fevola who slotted through his fourth goal from a tight angle.

Then the Bombers got on a roll and started to take the ball into their forward 50 with ease.

Lloyd was on the end of one entry and responded with a goal to put the Bombers up 30-points. When McPhee marked and goaled minutes later the margin blew out to 36-points.

Carlton again hit back again through Fevola, who booted his fifth, but celebrations were short lived when Monfries took a strong mark in the goal square despite receiving plenty of attention and converted his fourth.

When Stevens kicked the Blues’ eighth it was against the run of play before a poor kick in defence from McVeigh found Murphy who cut the margin to 25-points seconds before the siren rang.

Carlton came out swinging in the final quarter with Simpson booting a beauty from the boundary line to quickly cut the margin to 19-points.
 

Essendon had its chances but missed and the Blues hit back with Fevola marking strongly directly in front and booting his sixth.

 
The lead was now just two goals and tension levels started to rise.
 
When the Blues ran the ball out of defence and found Stevens 45m out the warning signs were ominous. He kicked truly to cut the margin to five-points and the Carlton crowd, who had been kept quiet, found their voice.
 
With momentum strongly in their favour Carlton took the ball out of the middle and spotted Carrazzo who kicked a long running goal and the Blues hit the lead - Carlton 87, Essendon 86.

A Myers mistake saw the Blues have a shot but miss. The first year gun then got it back and took the ball through the middle and delivered to Lloyd.

 
The captain kicked his fourth and the Bombers took back the lead, four points up.
 
When ruckman Laycock roved the pack and snapped for his first the margin was again 10-points but then Carlton, through Fisher, marked and converted in the goal square.
 
From there the Bombers stood tall. Lucas ran onto a ball in the goal square to get his first and extend the margin.
 
The Blues wouldn’t let go but goals to Reimers and Lovett helped seal the deal and the Bombers got home in a memorable win.