Fremantle have extended their winning streak on a wet and wild Sunday, belting the Bombers by 43 points, thanks to an eye-catching five-goal display from Patrick Voss.
Never shy for a post-goal celebration, an omnipresent Voss fired his side to a 16.8 (104) to 8.13 (61) win against his former side, while Essendon endured a goaless second quarter in front of an underwhelming MCG crowd of 25,100 fans.
Excluding the COVID-19 seasons of 2020 and 2021, Sunday’s attendance was the lowest crowd Essendon had has for a home game at the MCG in past 30 years. It is their ninth-lowest crowd for a home game at any venue in that period.
For the brave poncho-clad Bombers fans who did show up, it was a rough first quarter on Sunday with an imposing Fremantle booting three goals in four minutes thanks to terrific efforts from Shai Bolton and Josh Tracey.
The Bombers were steadied by a goal from rising star nominee Sullivan Robey, after an earlier miss from Nate Caddy – but were haunted by some sloppy errors in their defence, worsened by the drenched conditions.
Robey’s goal would be Essendon’s only goal for at least an hour.
The Bombers showed occasional glimpses of promise, but every mistake or fumble they made – Fremantle were there to capitalise on it.
At one point Jacob Farrow lost his feet trying to gather the ball inside-50 and a sprinting Isaiah Dudley effortlessly snatched it up and booted truly. Dudley left the field later in the quarter, helped by two trainers after getting hit by a crunching tackle.
Despite an animated quarter-time address from coach Brad Scott, Essendon’s struggles continued with botched centre clearances, missed tackles and inaccurate kicking.
A soaring kick towards the goal square was missed by two Bombers players and scooped up by Tracey who fed it back to Voss for another goal.
It was also a memorable match for fellow Docker Christopher Scerri who kicked his first AFL goal after a rundown tackle inside-50.
Ignoring jeering fans from the sidelines, Voss closed the second quarter with his fourth goal to boost Fremantle’s lead to 52 points at half-time – a deficit the Bombers were never going to be able to recover from.
As the rain grew heavier, back-to-back goals from Archer May and Caddy saved the Bombers from a goaless third quarter, but the Dockers countered with their own goals.
Essendon opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals – from May and Darcy Parish – to made the scoreboard look a little brighter, followed by another from Caddy and another from an impressive Robey.
Importantly, it was terrific fourth quarter performance form the Bombers that, however, came far too late. Their last-minute resurgence wasn’t enough to catch the Dockers who have now recorded their ninth win of the season – a feat also achieved by Sydney.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.
