Round 20 1995, Essendon vs. St Kilda
Game Statistics
ESSENDON.........2.4 5.8 15.9 23.13 (151)
ST KILDA.........3.4 6.6 8.10 10.15 (75)
Goals:
ESSENDON: Long,Young 4,Mercuri,Cummings 3,Darcy,Misiti 2,Hird,Daniher,Somerville,Grenvold,Denham 1.
ST KILDA: Loewe 6, Everitt 2, Keogh, O'Brien 1.
Crowd:
34,121 at Waverley (AFL Park)
Comment:
What a maaaagnificent performance by the Dons today. It was a game played in two distinct halves. St Kilda were very competitive in the first half, leading at both quarter time and half time. They showed the enthuasism and will to win that many sides lack, and it was that tenacity that ensured that they lead att he half-time break. But what a change the Essendon side underwent at half-time. The side taht emerged onto the ground was hardly the same outfit, and by the same token, the Saints were hardly up to their first half performance. In short, the Dons were superb for the second half.
The game started in the same way as the round 5 clash, with St Kilda kicking the first goal. In that game, however, the Dons were to dominate right from that point on. In this game it took the Bombers a half to get going. The signs were ominous indeed in the first quarter. At one point Essendon received a free on the St Kilda goal line, and proceeded to kick into the man on the mark for a Saints point. I was dreading the thought of a loss to Saint Kilda at this point in the season. Then two more blows in the first half, with both Ryan O'Connor and Che Cockatoo-Collins pulling hamstrings. I do not know the extent of these injuries, but rumours are that the Cockie's injury could be serious. Things were definitely against the Dons in the first half.
Then the metamorphosis took place. I don't know what sparked it. Perhaps it was the fact that Fitzroy were trailing Geelong by only two points, and we saw an opening for second spot on the ladder. Perhaps it was another inspiring half-time speech by Sheeds. Or maybe it was just the internal mechanism that told the players 'we really want to win'. Whatever it was, it worked. The third quarter was a ten goal quarter, one of the few for the year. Peter Somerville was so dominant in the ruck he had almost worked out which way the ball would bounce before the umpire had even bounced it. Guys in the middle like Sean Denham and Michael Long came to life, and suddenly Essendon was handing out a thrashing. The backline players gained supreme confidence; we streamed the ball down the wing into open space, and the forwards finished it all off. In the end we held St Kilda to only four goals while kicking a massive eighteen ourselves for the second half.
For the second week running Gavin Wanganeen was oustanding. He was one of the few winners in the first half, and then continued on his amazing form to set up the dominance of the second half. His ability to run around three or four opposition players in a small space leaves fans everywhere breathless, and then he invariably delivers the ball with precision to another Essendon player. Michael Long was also in fine form, kicking four goals and doing some very creative play making. He made his goals look easy, with his blistering pace he streeted away from numerous St Kilda players. Peter Somerville continues to impress in the ruck. He was on top in the first half, without any real results. But in the second half was extremely good, giving our rovers first possession out of the middle too many time to count. He also chipped in with a goal and marks all round the ground. Barry Young, who is fighting for his spot in the side come finals time, played well, and his four goals today certainly helped hs cause. Sean Denham had another good game, and while picking up possessions himself, he kept Robert Harvey very quiet. The second half was a team effort as much as anything, but other good players were Mark Mercuri (who had over twenty possessions), Damien Hardwick (his second good game in a row), Mark Harvey and the list goes on.
It was a good day all round for Essendon, with Geelong only beating Fitzroy by around 40 points, giving us second spot on the ladder. Our reserves also won, keeping their finals hopes alive (and by the way, Julian Kirzner took one of the marks of the year in the reserves, its just a pity that they don't count for the real thing!). The spark was definitely there in the second half today, and the spine is starting to tingle at the right time of the year. Let's hope that we can knock off Brisbane and set up a huge showdown with Carlton in the last round.- Brad
Votes:
Gavin Wanganeen was best on ground for the second week running.
3 - Gavin Wanganeen
A winner all day, and the game was like the Gavin Wanganeen magic show, with him performing tricks all over the backline. He does things other players can only dream about, and he does them so easily. A real class act. (Also, I'll be interviewing him in the near future, so look out for that!)
2 - Peter Somerville
Once again this big man reigned supreme. His rise this year has been one of the best things for Essendon. He continues to give our rovers every chance at the ball when its needed in the middle.
1 - Michael Long
Four goals of Long brilliance really summed up his game. He wasn't dominant for the entire game, but he was definitely one of the most creative and attacking players on the day.
Possessions Kicks Handballs MarksDENHAM 29 FLETCHER 18 HIRD 15 HIRD 9HIRD 25 DENHAM 17 DENHAM 12 FLETCHER 8LONG 25 LONG 17 MISITI 12 WANGANEEN 8MERCURI 24 WANGANEEN 17 MERCURI 9 CUMMINGS 7MISITI 24 O'DONNELL 16 LONG 8 DANIHER,C 7O'DONNELL 23 CALTHORPE 16 DARCY 8 MERCURI 7CALTHORPE 20 MERCURI 15 DANIHER,C 8 DENHAM 6FLETCHER 20 MISITI 12 HARDWICK 8 MISITI 6DANIHER,C 19 DANIHER,C 11 O'DONNELL 7 GRENVOLD 5WANGANEEN 19 GRENVOLD 11 SOMERVILLE 7 SOMERVILLE 5
Standing after Round 20:
Due to our massive win and Geelong's smaller win, we moved up to second spot. With Carlton winning, top spot is securely theirs. We now must fight it out with Geelong to see who ends up in second spot, and with the double chance. Collingwood winning and Melbourne losing makes the fight for eigth spot interesting, and it will become more evident after next week how the eight will finish.The ladder is as follows:
---------------P--W--L-D--For-Agst---%--PtsCarlton.......20 18 2 0 2144 1540 139.22 72Essendon......20 14 4 2 2313 1707 135.50 60Geelong.......20 15 5 0 2300 1712 134.35 60Richmond......20 13 6 1 1864 1802 103.44 54West Coast....20 13 7 0 1864 1529 121.91 52Nth Melb......20 12 8 0 1994 1844 108.13 48Footscray.....20 10 9 1 1676 1812 92.49 42Melbourne.....20 9 11 0 1734 1669 103.89 36Collingwood...20 8 10 2 1884 1875 100.48 36Brisbane......20 8 12 0 1878 2034 92.33 32Adelaide......20 8 12 0 1517 1946 77.95 32Sydney........20 7 13 0 2060 2051 100.44 28Hawthorn......20 7 13 0 1687 1714 98.42 28Fremantle.....20 7 13 0 1849 1971 93.81 28St. Kilda.....20 6 14 0 1565 2090 74.88 24Fitzroy.......20 2 18 0 1426 2459 57.99 8
Next Week:
A very important game next week against Brisbane under their new lights at the Gabba. We must win to put pressure on Geelong for second spot. If we can keep up the form shown in the second half, it should not be a problem, but we all know that Brisbane up there are no push-over. It will be a waiting game during the week to see how our injured players come up, and whether the players out at the moment (Salmon, Alessio and Symons) are ready to resume.
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