A comedy of skill errors has put Essendon’s hopes of playing finals this season in serious doubt after losing to Richmond by five points at the MCG today.

The Bombers lacked intensity and struggled with their skills due, in part, to Richmond’s strong defensive pressure which made it difficult for Essendon players to find space.

“We had enough of the ball but were unable to make the most of it due to our poor kicking and handballing and that was due to Richmond’s pressure,” Assistant coach Scott Camporeale said.

“They really closed our space down and we couldn’t get much going and when we tipped the ball over, they ran it forward very well.”

Richmond held all the momentum in the first half before a more inspired Bombers unit returned in the third term to claw back some of the margin.
However Essendon were unable to maintain the intensity and allowed the Tigers to work themselves back into the game late in the third term.
“At half-time we just had to keep reminding the players of the structures that we needed to play to in order to win,” Camporeale said.
""We didn’t do that in the first half and we got rewarded in the third quarter before letting it slip over the last couple of minutes in that term when Richmond kicked a couple of easy ones.
To read the quarter by quarter match report in 'Live Scores' click here. To watch Matthew Knights' post match media conference click here.

The loss throws the Bombers’ finals hopes into jeopardy with four teams still vying for two spots in the top eight.

“It was a disappointing game considering what the ramifications will be at the end of the year so it wasn’t ideal for us to drop that game,” Camporeale said.

“We needed to win this week to keep our finals hopes alive and we certainly have our work cut out for us now.”