The West Coast Eagles carved out another courageous win over Essendon at the Gabba tonight, putting the club within a whisker of finals after notching their 10th victory of the season.
The highly committed Eagles won a gruelling 15-point victory over the Bombers, 9.60 (60) to 6.9 (45), in their third game in nine days.
They backed up from a gritty 12-point win over Greater Western Sydney and a 27-point defeat by Richmond to bounce back impressively. Now they have a five-day break before confronting the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium next Sunday.
The only downside was the second hamstring strain of the season for skipper Luke Shuey. He did a few run-throughs at three-quarter time and bravely returned to action in the final term before pulling up sore late in the game.
The last term exemplified the latter stage of the season with two battle-weary, but brave teams going at it without being able to land a significant blow against the opposition. It might have produced few highlights, but the closing moments of the third stanza proved decisive.
Essendon edged within 10 points mid-way through the quarter and were doing most of the attacking.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti kicked his third 10 minutes into the term and the Bombers looked threatening before the Eagles steadied on the back of Tom Cole’s impact.
First he got on his bike from half-back as the Eagles were on a fast break down the other wing. The footy finished in the hands of Jack Darling, who kicked deep for Cole to mark, opposed to Dyson Heppell.
He played on to snap around his body, kicking the first goal of his 52-game career. It came with the trademark celebration with teammates descended upon him, crowded him in celebrations.
A few minutes later he laid a tackle on Adam Saad that resulted in an illegal disposal call and finished with Ryan kicking his career-high fourth goal.
The Eagles appeared to have the game under control in the latter stages of the second term, thanks largely to their midfield ascendancy, where Nic Naitanui, Tim Kelly and Shuey in particular were damaging.
West Coast kicked three rapid-fire goals after about an eight minute stalemate to start the term.
Ryan and Darling were proving a handful for the Bombers defence and with Andrew Gaff also accumulating plenty of football it seemed the Eagles spent much of the quarter in their half.
Defensively, the old firm of Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern and Brad Sheppard were doing their thing, repelling Bombers attacking moves and launching offensive missions of their own with Tom Cole and Liam Duggan joining in.
But late in the term Essendon burst back into life through McDonald-Tipungwuti, who kicked his second goal and then both Dyson Heppell and James Stewart hit the scoreboard – Stewart’s goal reviewed over a lunging touch from Barrass that was deemed inclusive. Umpires call stood, so it was full points.
The game opened with a highly competitive first that produced some great contests and shared opportunities.
Essendon had more disposals, but the Eagles were more dangerous when going forward and made the most of their opportunities, leading at the first change by 15 points after creating an 11-9 edge in inside 50 entries.
Much of that was derived from centre clearances, with Nic Naitanui and Bailey Williams working nicely with the Eagles midfield. Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly were on early and that created opportunities for a new-look forward structure.
Ryan kicked the first goal of the game after some good work out of the middle by Naitanui and Shuey, Oscar Allen kicked the next from a free and then Jack Darling converted after a strong mark.
The highlight was Williams’ first goal in senior football deep into the quarter.
From a stoppage deep in the pocket, the ball towards Darling, who nudged it into the path of Williams who kicked it off the Gabba carpet with only seconds left on the clock.
West Coast Eagles 4.1 7.3 9.5 9.6 60
Essendon 1.4 4.5 5.8 6.9 45
Goals – West Coast Eagles: Ryan 4; Darling 2; Allen, Williams, Cole.
Essendon: McDonald-Tipungwuti 4; Heppell, Stewart.
Best – West Coast Eagles: Ryan, Naitanui, Gaff, Hurn, Kelly, Darling, Shuey.
Essendon: Merrett, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Parish, Langford, Shiel, Ridley.
Injuries – Luke Shuey (West Coast) hamstring; Andrew McGrath (Essendon) ankle.
