Best Win Since 2000 No. 5
Round 5 2009 vs Collingwood
| Essendon | 1.5.11 | 6.6.42 | 9.13.67 | 13.15.93 |
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| Collingwood | 4.2.26 | 6.6.42 | 8.10.58 | 12.16.88 |
Context
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Essendon began 2009 with scratchy form and a 2-2 record. Their last outing against North Melbourne had been disappointing, with the Bombers kicking themselves out of the game and succumbing by 12 points at Docklands.
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Collingwood were also 2-2 but had generally looked better than the Dons in their opening 4 matches.
Why it’s on the list / key moments
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AKA “The Zaharakis against Collingwood game”.
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Essendon overcame the injury of David Hille early in the game to win an absolute classic ANZAC Day clash. Hille ruptured his ACL in the opening minutes and went on to miss the rest of the season. Enter, Paddy Ryder. The young ruck prospect had only played a small part in Essendon’s ruck duties in his first 3 years of footy, but the youngster played one of the matches of his career and was the day’s ANZAC Medalist.
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Collingwood kicked the first 3 goals of the match and led by 15 points at QT, but the Bombers hit back to tie the contest by HT.
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Bomber Sam Lonergan took a fantastic diving mark before kicking the set shot goal from just inside 50 to give the Bombers momentum early in the 2nd quarter.
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Ricky Dyson goaled with an impressive hurried kick from 50m to briefly put the Bombers in front
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The Bombers got out to a 17-point lead during the 3rd quarter after goals to Brent Stanton, Alwyn Davey and Andrew Lovett, among a number of behinds. The Bombers would soon rue these misses as momentum swung the Pies’ direction. Collingwood kicked the next 3 goals to take the lead early in the 4th quarter.
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As if Ryder hadn’t been influential enough already, he flew past Leroy Jetta to receive a handpass just outside 50 before finishing with ease on the run to give the Bombers back the lead.
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The Pies looked like winners after earning themselves a 14-point lead with less than 5 minutes of play remaining. The Bombers had barely looked like kicking a goal, but Collingwood were soon the side to rue missed chances. In circumstances, the Dons found another gear once the forecasted rain finally arrived. A stoppage at halfback spilled out to Brent Stanton, who released Lovett for a trademark run. After 4 bounces, his kick bounced into the arms of Leroy Jetta. Jetta squeezed a bouncing snap through for a goal to give the Bombers a glimmer of hope.
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Jobe Watson won the next centre clearance. He found Stanton who bombed inside 50. Jetta caught Pie Alan Toovey in a tackle 25m out, straight in front. The ball was dropped, but no whistle was blown. Eventually Leon Davis cleared for Collingwood, but his kick landed out of bounds on the full. Ricky Dyson collected the football and kicked the most important goal of his career from the free kick, splitting the middle with the wet ball to make the margin only 2 points.
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The Bombers attacked again through the middle of the ground off half back. Lovett kicked a well-weighted chip to Angus Monfries, who took a skidding mark. The crowd was cheering every successful possession. Monfries handballed to Dyson immediately, whose long kick left Leroy Jetta in a race against himself to pick up the loose ball and kick an open goal. Poor Jetta fumbled at the crucial moment to allow the Pies defense to get back and rush a behind.
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It looked like the moment may have passed for Essendon, but the resulting kick-in was collected by Jason Winderlich 70m out from goal. He handballed short to Heath Hocking, who fed out quickly to Nathan Lovett-Murray, who used brilliant vision to spot up 4th-gamer, David Zaharakis, all on his own on the 50m arc. Zaharakis turned, took one look at the goals before getting his kick away just in time to send a glorious wobbling kick straight through the middle in the pouring rain. The broadcast commentary for this moment was one of Stephen Quartermain’s best. The Triple M commentary is also special in its own way.
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After another Ryder hitout and 5 seconds of scrappy play, the Bombers had won one of the best ANZAC Day games of all.
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Click here for the Essendon goals/highlights (Essendon only, lower quality).
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Click here for the AFL’s mini-match highlights (Both teams, higher quality).
Extra notes
- Matthew Lloyd needed 1 goal to reach 900 in his career. It was a day to forget for Lloyd, who kicked 0.3, including a short range checkside miss from a free kick.
What happened next?
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Essendon lost by 43 points to Brisbane at the Gabba the following week, but then rebounded with a strong 44-point win over reigning premiers Hawthorn. It was impossible to predict Matthew Knights’s Bombers. They stuttered their way to 8th on the ladder before being demolished by Adelaide at Football Park.
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Collingwood were solid, as they tended to be under Mick Malthouse, earning a top 4 spot and winning the infamous “right in front of me” Semi-Final against Adelaide. Geelong blew them away in the Preliminary Final.
Click here to go to best win #4.