Semi Final 2 1995, Essendon vs. Richmond

Game Statistics

ESSENDON.........3.3 9.4 9.6 11.7  (73)
RICHMOND.........3.2 4.4 9.7 12.14 (86)

Goals:

ESSENDON: Mercuri, Salmon, Alessio, Denham 2, O'Donnell, Calthorpe, Lloyd 1.
RICHMOND: Knights 3, Rogers, Naish, Daffy, Turner 2, Charles 1.

Crowd:

88,308 at the MCG

Comment:

One strike and you're out. Well that's how the season ended for the Dons in 1995. A loss to Richmond at the MCG in front of a huge crowd. In all, it was a very disappointing loss, especially given the fact that we were in front by 30 points at half time. But that is where the Essendon dominance ended, and Richmond ran away with the game. Well done Richmond. I was a doubter all year, and going into the game today I could not see how they would beat us. But they did, and it left many supporters like myself wondering why.

As many expected, Long did not play, and his replacement was Misiti. But what no one could have predicted was the devastating injuries to O'Connor and Young (two of our best players last week) in the first quarter. O'Connor had what looked like a recurrence of his hamstring injury, while Barry Young injured his ankle. Suddenly we were down to a one man interchange bench. We coped with this for a quarter, but then disaster struck again, with Gary O'Donnell struck down by a fair hip-and-shoulder by Turner, and subsequently stretchered off the ground. Result: no interchange bench. For the rest of the game the Dons were forced to use th players on the ground at all times, and this definitely contributed to the loss.

The first quarter was a very tight contest, with the Dons getting away early, only to be pegged back by Richmond. The second quarter was nearly all Essendon. Things went right out of the middle, and we managed to kick goals to set up a decent lead into half time. Richmond was kept in the game by three magnificent goals to Matthew Knights. These were possibly the best goals I've seen in finals, with Knights grabbing the ball in the centre and running to fifty before putting the ball right through the middle. But the negative signs were there for the Dons at half time: the players were looking tired. Two severe injuries had already been sustained, and many players showed signs of fatigue (perhaps Waverley does take a bit out of players who have to run all day). And that was all Richmond needed to see, they exploited our lack of running in the third quarter. To me, this was the most striking part of the second half by the Dons, their lack of pace. It seemed that in nearly every contest the Dons were a few paces behind, in a word they looked slow. It was the enthusiasm that had achieved such great results for Richmond all year that ultimately kept their pace up, and caused us to slowly drop out of contention. The final quarter was a mere formality, no matter what the scoreboard said at three quarter time. Only one point down, under normal circumstances Essendon would have had as good a chance as any team. But the way the third quarter had been played, the Dons were finished. And unfortunately, this lack of pace was possibly the single greatest reason for the loss.

So, for the last time in the seniors this year, to the better players for Essendon. I thought Jimmy Hird really summed up his year today. He was terrific, and when moved down to centre half back, he annihilated any opponent he was faced with. His determination at the ball was unmatched by any Essendon player, and he was one of the reasons Essendon was only one point down at three quarter time. In my opinion he is almost a certainty to win his second best and fairest in succession. I really felt for him after the game when he sank to the ground, took off his shoes in dismay and depression, and Darren Bewick came across and patted him on the back. Well done on a great year Jimmy. Up until his KO, Gary O'Donnell was one of the best for Essendon. He continually got the ball around the packs, and was one of the few sources of run for the Bombers. Dustin Fletcher had another good game for Essendon today. He really struck form towards the end of this year, and should look forward to a good year in '96. And finally Peter Somerville was very solid in defence today. The honours were probably shared in the ruck with Dear, but at many critical stages in the game, Somerville was there to take a much needed mark. This game topped off a great year for Peter also.

So now we look to next year, and I think we do have quite a lot to look forward to. Guys like Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas should provide a strong future for the Dons, and hopefully a very successful one. In my final words for the seniors report for 1995, I say go tigers. I will be writing a season in review article in the next weeks, which will be posted around the time of the Grand Final.

The seniors are finished, but I think we can still look forward to a really good chance at a premiership this year, the reserves premiership. Today the reserves played Footscray, and won by about 40 points. They really showed some good form during the game, and with the likes of Lloyd, Doolan and Prior to return to the seconds next week, we've got a good chance of taking out the flag. Last week North acocunted for Footscray easily, and we did the same today, and suggests that we could give North (the current favorites) a run for their money if they are the eventual Grand Finalists. This depends on what happens tomorrow, with North playing Sydney (who incidently killed the Collingwood reserves last week). We play the loser of that game, and then would take on the winner in the Grand Final. Players who are in good form in the seconds at the moment are Peter Cransberg, Mark Pitura, Danny Morgan, Gary Moorcroft, Scott Lucas, Sean Lewfatt, Peter Berbakov and the Frasers. Add to this list those players mentioned above, and we could have a team that would be very hard to beat for the reserves flag this year. So at least we all still have something to look forward to, and I'll post a reserves report after the game next week. - Brad

Votes:

 A sad occasion really, the last votes for the year.

3 - James Hird
Topped off the great year that James has had. He got the ball on the forward line, on the back line, anywhere he was asked to play. He is a definite asset to the game, great year Jimmy.

2 - Dustin Fletcher
Dustin has played well in recent weeks when he has been place up the ground. Perhaps we could see more of him next year on a wing or flank, which gives him a chance to exercise his great running play.

1 - Peter Somerville
Without doubt the most improved player at Essendon this year. He was good in the ruck and even better in defence today, and has had a terrific year with the Dons.

Supporter votes for the game last week, vs. West Coast:
	O'Donnell 7
	Mercuri   7
	Thompson  5
	O'Connor  2
	Young     2
	Long      1

The Statistics for the Semi Final:


Possessions    Kicks          Handballs      Marks         
DENHAM      24 MERCURI     17 DENHAM      11 MERCURI     10
MERCURI     24 HIRD        14 SYMONS       8 HIRD         8
HIRD        22 DENHAM      13 HIRD         8 SYMONS       7
SYMONS      20 WANGANEEN   13 MISITI       7 SOMERVILLE   7
HARVEY      17 HARVEY      13 MERCURI      7 GRENVOLD     6
THOMPSON    16 SYMONS      12 GRENVOLD     7 SALMON       6
WANGANEEN   16 THOMPSON    11 SOMERVILLE   6 MISITI       6
MISITI      15 ALESSIO     10 DOOLAN       6 ALESSIO      6
DOOLAN      15 CALTHORPE    9 OLARENSHAW   6 LLOYD        5
OLARENSHAW  14 DOOLAN       9 THOMPSON     5 HARVEY       5

Next Week:

Sadly, we must say goodbye to 1995, and say hello to 1996. However, the year isn't over for the reserves, and they will play Sydney in the preliminary final. Hopefully they can go all the way as some consolation for the seniors loss.
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