Round 9 1995, Essendon vs. Footscray
Game Statistics
ESSENDON.........3.2 8.8 9.10 15.11 (101)
FOOTSCRAY........3.2 6.4 7.8 9.13 (67)
Goals:
ESSENDON: Mercuri, O'Donnell 3, Hird, Bewick, Calthorpe 2, Somerville, Misiti, Denham 1.
FOOTSCRAY: Phillipou 2, Grgic, Grant, Martin, Cox, Macpherson, Liberatore, Beveridge 1.
Crowd:
38,719 at the MCG
Comment:
Well that was "EJ Whitten Day", and Essendon came through victorious. I must add my best wishes to Ted Whitten, and hope that he gets better, ready for the Big V's clash with South Australia. It was a game that didn't reach any real heights. The first three quarters were a real slog, the conditions weren't perfect, and Essendon just managed to do enough to hold off the Bulldogs. It was in the last quarter when Essendon put the foot down and sped away from Footscray. We kicked six goals to two, to extend the final margin to 34 points. This final term indicates the teams capabilities if it gets going, but to Footscray's credit they kept us largely under raps until the last quarter. Of course it was to be expected that Footscray would come out fired up given the circumstance with Ted's illness, but thankfully Essendon didn't take the game too lightly (which they could have considering the form of Footscray this year). A special mention must be made of James Hird, his second quarter effort was one of the best individual player performances I have ever seen. He was in almost every Essendon play for that quarter, in almost all positions on the ground. At nearly every pack in that quarter, you could guarantee Jimmy would be the one with the ball at the bottom - to put it simply - he was everywhere. But with the ups, there are the downs, and it was sickening to see Ricky taken from the ground in the first two minutes of the game with a rib injury. He was immediately taken up the race and we knew then that it was serious. In all, it was class in the final term that won the game convincingly for the Dons. - Brad
Standing after Round 9:
We could have taken top spot on the ladder after a disastrous performance by Calrton (YES, YES, YES!!) if Richmond had have lost to Sydney. However, Richmond still cling to top spot by half a game, and we're placed in second, half a game clear of Geelong and Carlton. It is good to see our percentage is still very good (142.0), second only to Geelong's. The ladder is as follows:
--------------P-W-L-D--For--Agst--%---Pts
RICHMOND......9 8 1 - 848 762 111.3 32
ESSENDON......9 7 1 1 970 683 142.0 30
GEELONG.......9 7 2 - 1071 739 144.9 28
CARLTON.......9 7 2 - 830 660 125.8 28
WEST COAST....9 6 3 - 818 642 127.4 24
NORTH MELB....9 5 4 - 809 881 91.8 20
FREMANTLE.....9 4 5 - 920 873 105.4 16
HAWTHORN......9 4 5 - 717 701 102.3 16
Adelaide......9 4 5 - 671 719 93.3 16
Footscray.....9 4 5 - 758 951 79.7 16
Sydney........9 3 6 - 922 893 103.2 12
Melbourne.....9 3 6 - 744 744 100.0 12
Brisbane......9 3 6 - 822 984 83.5 12
Collingwood...9 2 6 1 753 852 88.4 10
St. Kilda.....9 2 7 - 630 878 71.8 8
Fitzroy.......9 2 7 - 673 994 67.7 8
Next Week:
We face North Melbourne, under lights, at the MCG on Friday Night. This should be a good game, considering North Melbourne would be expected to rebound after their loss (or in real terms a thrashing) this week to Geelong. And given the fact that North are the supposed "night specialists" we should be in for a fight. But our current form suggests we would be too strong for them at this stage of the season. There are a few questions to be answered this week though: will Somerville get rubbed out? how bad is Ricky's injury? and will the Cockie be able to play next week? All these things will be known in time.
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Well that was "EJ Whitten Day", and Essendon came through victorious. I must add my best wishes to Ted Whitten, and hope that he gets better, ready for the Big V's clash with South Australia. It was a game that didn't reach any real heights. The first three quarters were a real slog, the conditions weren't perfect, and Essendon just managed to do enough to hold off the Bulldogs. It was in the last quarter when Essendon put the foot down and sped away from Footscray. We kicked six goals to two, to extend the final margin to 34 points. This final term indicates the teams capabilities if it gets going, but to Footscray's credit they kept us largely under raps until the last quarter. Of course it was to be expected that Footscray would come out fired up given the circumstance with Ted's illness, but thankfully Essendon didn't take the game too lightly (which they could have considering the form of Footscray this year). A special mention must be made of James Hird, his second quarter effort was one of the best individual player performances I have ever seen. He was in almost every Essendon play for that quarter, in almost all positions on the ground. At nearly every pack in that quarter, you could guarantee Jimmy would be the one with the ball at the bottom - to put it simply - he was everywhere. But with the ups, there are the downs, and it was sickening to see Ricky taken from the ground in the first two minutes of the game with a rib injury. He was immediately taken up the race and we knew then that it was serious. In all, it was class in the final term that won the game convincingly for the Dons. - Brad