Eagles fend off Bomber comeback

by Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from Subiaco Oval

Essendon honored legends Kevin Sheedy and James Hird in their final games as coach (27 seasons) and player (253 games) respectively by staging one of the great fight-backs in recent years to come within eight points of the biggest upset of the season. After dominating the game in the first half the West Coast looked set to run all over the Bombers and secure a home qualifying final next weekend. James Hird made an impassioned plea to his teammates at three quarter time to give him one more Essendon memory before the final siren sounded the end of his playing career. The Bombers players obliged by producing a standout final quarter in which the whole Essendon team lifted its work rate to give Scott Lucas opportunities to score seven goals that stunned West Coast and its fans. It was a fitting way to end the intense sometimes bitter rivalry between West Coast and Essendon, exacerbated by an incident that took place in Round 16, 1993 at the MCG. On that day, the Bombers won a close game against the Eagles and as he was heading down the coach’s race towards the oval at full time, Sheedy took off his jacket and swung it triumphantly above his head, a gesture that many West Coast fans found inflammatory. Thus began a tradition between the two teams as fans waved jackets and scarves whenever their team came out the winner. On September 1st, 2007 the jacket waving at Subiaco Oval was all about a show of respect to wish Sheedy and Hird a final farewell.

A record crowd of 42, 761 turned out on a magnificent spring day that provided perfect playing conditions. In addition to the Sheedy-Hird celebrations, West Coast’s Daniel Chick played his 250th league game. After several games out with injury, it was Chick who put his mark on the game in the first few minutes of the quarter by taking the ball out of the center and passing it to Ben Cousins who kicked a wonderful goal from the right full forward pocket. Chick followed up quickly with the second goal of the quarter and so began an Eagles rampage with goals coming from Michael Braun, Brent Staker and Rowan Jones. Essendon made a lot of skill errors and had to wait until the 21st minute of the quarter to score a goal through Jason Winderlich and minutes later through Jay Neagle in his first game of AFL football. West Coast’s superior ability to control the ball in the face of Essendon’s fumbles and poor kicking gave them a comfortable 16 point lead at quarter time.

In the second quarter the Essendon players started off sharper and quicker. Scott Lucas opened the quarter with a long accurate shot on goal and Mark McVeigh threaded through another to reduce the margin to only four points. The tide quickly turned West Coast’s way with Dean Cox dominating the ruck clearances and Tyson Stenglein, Chad Fletcher and Ben Cousins taking full advantage of their opportunities to put the ball into the Eagles forward attacking zone. It was raining West Coast goals at Subiaco Oval with Chad Jones, Quinten Lynch, Mark Le Cras, Mitch Morton, Rowan Jones and Mark Seaby scoring six pointers and providing the Eagles with a 28 point lead at half time.

At the start of the third quarter Essendon seemed in danger of a thrashing. West Coast’s defense looked too strong and in spite of James Hird’s outstanding possession getting, the Bombers looked out of sorts and slow. A long goal to Matthew Lloyd provided some hope but a quick reply from Rowan Jones negated it. A wonderful goal from James Hird deep in the forward pocket showcased the Essendon champion’s foot skills but made no impact on the scoreboard when Daniel Chick converted on goal minutes later giving West Coast a 39 point advantage that looked insurmountable. Despite goals to Bombers players Chris Heffernan, Winderlich, Kepler Bradley and Brent Stanton, the Eagles were simply too fast and skillful across the center and forward lines. Further goals to Stenglein, Cousins, Rowan Jones, Morton and David Wirrpanda gave the Eagles a 44 point lead at three quarter time.

The fourth quarter was proof that no football game is over until the final siren sounds. Two early goals to Scott Lucas narrowed the margin to 32 points and it looked like the Eagles had eased off the accelerator in preparation for next week’s Finals game. A free kick to Wirrpanda in front of goal gave West Coast the next six pointer and commentators speculated that this would douse the Bombers’ fight and spirit. Someone forgot to tell the Bombers that it was time to lie down and in the next twenty minutes they produced an amazing and stirring comeback. Scott Lucas was a magnificent goal-kicking target up forward, capitalizing on the effort and endeavor of the players further up the ground to kick seven last quarter goals. With five minutes remaining the margin was two points and it was tight and tense on the field and in the crowd. With two minutes to go, Brent Staker kicked a goal right on the West Coast goal line to give the Eagles an eight point win. In spite of the win West Coast were relegated to third position on the Ladder after Port Adelaide defeated Fremantle at AAMI Stadium and finished with a superior percentage. This robbed West Coast of the much hoped for home qualifying final next weekend.

The game was a wild final ride for Kevin Sheedy and James Hird who were honored in a moving post-game ceremony in front of an emotional and appreciative Western Australian crowd. Not always known for their open attitudes towards interstate teams and players, the WA fans stayed on for the presentations and speeches and sent Hird and Sheedy off in style, waving their Eagles scarves and jackets in acknowledgment of two of the game’s greats and of the fantastic spectacle they had just witnessed.

Final scores
West Coast    5.1     12.2    19.4    21.6   (132)
Essendon      2.3      5.6      11.8   19.10 (124)

Goals
WCE Morton, R Jones 3, Staker, LeCras, Cousins, Seaby, Chick, Wirrpanda 2, Lynch,  
          Cox, Stenglein

ESS  Lucas 8, Winderlich 3, Lloyd, Hird, Neagle, McVeigh, Bradley, Heffernan, 
          Stanton, Monfries

Best
WCE    Hunter, Cox, Fletcher, R Jones, Stenglein, Cousins
ESS     Hird, Lucas, Lovett, Peverill, Winderlich, Gumbleton

Crowd    42761

Umpires  Matthew Head, Simon Meredith, Scott Jeffrey