As always, it was an eventful ANZAC Day and the game itself reflected that. Considering Collingwood have the shooting accuracy of expendable henchmen in action movies and Essendon’s poor recent form in wet weather, I really didn’t know what to expect and couldn’t pick a favourite ahead of the game.
Essendon definitely started the better, winning a lot of the early ball and also delivering it well into the forward line. McDonald-Tippungwuti kicked to Daniher in the pocket for the first goal and Heppell found Francis soon after for their second before Collingwood had even looked dangerous.
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The early minutes of the game looked ominous for Blues fans. Port were winning the ball too easily in the middle of the ground with Ryder and Wines influential from the start. In on the rare occasions Carlton came forward, the Power cleaned up easily and rebounded quicker than teenager after an angry break up, streaming into a forward half where Robbie Grey was a constant danger.
After giving off a handball for Pittard to miss an early shot, Grey won an important contest on the wing and put the ball out in front of Dixon on the lead. The big forward collected the bouncing ball on the run, turned and snapped the opening goal. Perhaps a minute later the Blues broke down trying to come out of defence and Polac was on hand to goal on the run from outside 50. I thought this had the makings of an interesting game. Despite misfiring as regularly as Sean Spicer’s White House press briefings, the Dogs have been doing enough to win games- aside from their surprise loss to Fremantle- and although the Roos’ winless start paints a bleak picture, I think they are a better team than that and one that has the potential to be very good on their day.
It was a fast-paced start to the game. The ball was almost constantly in dispute and bodies were flying around like it was a Fast and Furious movie. The Dogs’ pressure was particularly good and they were doing more of the attacking, however they were uncharacteristically sloppy at times, causing their attacks to break down just as they looked threatening. One of their better passages of play found Stringer in space deep forward and forced Thompson to make front-on contact, with the Dogs’ forward kicking a goal from the free kick. It was a rainy Sunday arvo so I sat myself down in front of the TV to watch the Blues and the Bombers. I have to say I was a bit worried, as I rate Essendon as a markedly better team and if there is a one-sided game on, I lose interest faster than Natasha Exelby.
The early minutes of the game seemed to be in keeping with my expectations, with the Bombers doing most of the attacking and Carlton finding it hard to get past half way except through Casboult’s powerful marking. One such mark was the catalyst for the first goal of the game, as Casboult kicked it long inside 50. No one could mark it but good work by Petrevski-Seton (who had an excellent game) made a chance for Cripps who snapped it off a step from about 30 metres out. |
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