Sharp-shooter Mark Williams has repaid the faith shown in him by the selection committee this week after producing a four-goal return in last night’s 20-point win over Carlton.

Williams admitted he was lucky to survive the axe as six players were culled from the side following an insipid performance against Fremantle last week, saying he understood how important his contribution was against Carlton.

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“I thought I was going to be lining up for Bendigo this week but luckily enough I got a guernsey in the senior side and I made the most of it,” Williams said

“I have a lot of respect for Knightsy for showing faith in me. He said I had to lift my game a bit and with the support of guys like Ryder and Zaharakis, it made my job a lot easier this week.

“It was great to get a few kicks last night. I have a bit of improving to do in terms of my own performance but we are only three rounds in and hopefully we can back up our team effort this week against West Coast.”
The Bombers last night responded well to any criticism of their ability to finish games over the past fortnight, holding off a late Carlton attack to run the game out and seal their first win of the season.

“One of the emphasises during the week was to finish off our games and it was good to be able to do that against Carlton last night,” Williams said.

“We probably didn’t do that against Fremantle and Geelong so it was good to see our efforts rewarded last night.”
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Williams said to seal a win over old rivals in Carlton on a blockbuster stage made the victory even sweeter.

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said.
“The Essendon supporters always come out in huge numbers and I like to get among the crowd and make it a hostile environment.

“I guess I want to thank all the Essendon supporters for turning out and hopefully they can keep behind us for the remainder of the year.

“It probably wasn’t fun playing against Essendon (at Hawthorn) because they had so many numbers there but it is good to be in the red and black and I’m looking forward to having some more wins on the board.”
Click here to watch Matthew Knights' post-match media conference from Saturday night.