Best Win Since 2000 No. 7
Round 18 2004 vs Port Adelaide
| Essendon | 3.4.22 | 9.5.59 | 12.9.81 | 18.11.119 |
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| Port Adelaide | 2.7.19 | 4.8.32 | 8.11.59 | 11.13.79 |
Context
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Essendon were 9th on the ladder after two losses in a row. The Bombers’ place in the finals was looking dicey. James Hird was missing with injury, leaving Matthew Lloyd with the captaincy duties. Scott Lucas and Sean Wellman were also missing for the red-and-black.
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Port Adelaide were 3rd on percentage - all teams in the top 4 were tied for total points. Port were in good form, having won their last 6 matches.
Why it’s on the list / key moments
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AKA “The game where Lloyd bumped Chad Cornes”.
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The Bombers broke a string of poor performances against the Power, who would go on to win their only AFL premiership.
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Matthew Lloyd played one of the best games of his career. He’d kicked many more goals, but his impact -pardon the pun- was huge. Late in the 1st quarter, Lloyd ran into Port’s Chad Cornes like a steam train. The hit was fair and no one in Port’s magenta and blue heritage jumpers had any complaints. Cornes was sensational throughout 2004, picking up 22 Brownlow votes as a centre-half-back. The hit reduced his impact, as he only achieved 8 kicks for the match, his lowest total for the season. Cornes had been best on ground the week before against a handy West Coast side.
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Moments later, Nathan Lovett-Murray earned himself a free kick when he ran down Port’s Matthew Bishop, who had marked and played-on on centre-wing. Channel 10’s Tim Lane questioned why the free kick was paid. Hopefully someone explained the rules of the game to him in the ad break. Lovett-Murray’s kick found Dean Rioli, who then found Lloyd on the lead. Lloyd kicked truly from 50m out to give the Bombers a 10-point lead.
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The 2nd quarter belonged to Essendon. The Bombers played some lovely flowing football under the roof of Docklands stadium, which was epitomised by a great run through the centre by Adam Ramanauskas, who delivered a perfect pass to the leading Damian Cupido.
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Jason Johnson roved a spoil in the left forward pocket before kicking a ridiculously well-executed checkside which bent away from goal but somehow split the middle.
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Damian Peverill made the most of a bad bounce of the football by Shaun Burgoyne by running the youngster down 50m out. Lovett-Murray took the advantage by scooping up the loose ball and bombing through a goal at post-height.
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Lloyd could have had another goal to his name when he brought Chad Cornes to ground in a fantastic tackle on the 50m arc, but no free kick was paid. The Bomber fans were incensed. Lloyd soon marked on the lead and converted to the Bombers a 27-point lead at HT.
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Early in the 3rd quarter, Damian Peverill took 3 bounces before strolling inside 50 and kicking a goal to give the Dons a 33-point lead.
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Jason Johnson, who was awarded the 3 Brownlow votes on the night, broke a run of 3 Port Adelaide goals when his hopeful high snap avoided a pack of hands and bounced at 90 degrees for a very fortuitous goal.
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Port continued to get back into the game and eventually cut the margin to just 9 points early in the 4th quarter. The Dons steadied, kicking 6 of the last 7 goals - Lloyd with 3 of them to kick 7.1 in total. Lloyd’s last goal was a flashback to the 2000 season, as he took a 1-handed mark in the goalsquare while holding off Darryl Wakelin.
Extra notes
- Joe Misiti’s last win in his career. He’d suffer an injury the following week in a loss to Carlton which meant he’d play no part in Essendon’s finals campaign.
What happened next?
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Essendon threw away their good work by losing to a mediocre Carlton side the following week. They did enough in their remaining matches to take 8th spot and would go on to defeat Melbourne in the Elimination Final. Geelong stopped the Bombers’ finals run in a Semi-Final on a wet MCG.
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Port Adelaide didn’t lose another match en route to their premiership. Their 6-point Preliminary Final win against St Kilda was the most dramatic of the year’s finals series and allowed the Power the chance to finally overthrow the Lions after 3 consecutive 1st-place finishes during the Home & Away seasons.
Click here to go to best win #6.