Today’s loss against Melbourne has put a serious dint in Essendon’s aspirations of a top-four finish. Successive defeats to Brisbane and now the Demons has seen the Bombers drop to sixth position on the ladder. The Bombers were outplayed today by a quality Melbourne outfit, who has moved into second position on the ladder after the 26-point victory.

Essendon heads into the mid-season break with eight wins on the board and a serious question mark over being serious finals’ contenders. The Bombers are yet to beat a side in the top-five. Port Adelaide, St Kilda, Melbourne, Brisbane and Geelong have all taken the points against Essendon this season.

""It was basically an eight-point game today. We have lost to the second and third top side in the past two weeks. It would have been a terrific effort to be 9:4 heading into the break and put a real gap between sides fighting for a top-four position,"" assistant coach Robert Shaw said immediately after the match.

Shaw said he expected Essendon to capitalise on Melbourne’s recent tough draw. In the past three weeks - Melbourne has travelled to Brisbane, Perth and then played Collingwood last Monday. ""We thought if we were really intense and physical from the opening bounce, we would have a good chance.

""We lacked vigour and intensity and we were reactive. The most disappointing thing was that we were only jerked into gear when Melbourne got four goals up in the second quarter,"" Shaw said.

The game could have been over in the first half if Melbourne had kicked straight. They had 20 scoring shots to Essendon’s seven, but only held a 23-point advantage at the main break.

Shaw said that Melbourne’s mid-field had too many high possession gatherers and Brad Green was outstanding. Green collected 32 possessions and took 12 marks. ""Brad Green was fantastic on the wing. He disposed of three opponents in Mark Johnson, Damien Peverill and Justin Murphy,"" Shaw said.

Melbourne handled the wet and slippery conditions better than the Bombers. Shaw was disappointed with Essendon’s use of the footy. ""In the conditions we had poor execution of the football. Our skill level proved costly,"" he said.

Matthew Lloyd’s performance was one of the few highlights of the afternoon for Essendon. The spearhead booted 5.2, however Shaw said his tally could have been higher if the team had used the ball better. ""If we got the ball in quicker and kicked longer Lloyd might have had more opportunities up forward. We weren’t direct and decisive with our kicking, which proved costly,"" Shaw said.