NORTH MELBOURNE 2.3 2.4 9.5 14.9 (93) ESSENDON 2.4 6.7 10.8 12.9 (81)
GOALS: North Melbourne: Brown 4, Thomas 3, Petrie 2, Cunnington, Ziebell, Greenwood, Dal Santo, Gibson. Essendon: Daniher 4, Chapman 2, Colyer 2, Goddard, Howlett, Ryder, Bellchambers.
BEST: North Melbourne: Wells, Cunnington, Greenwood, Brown, Thompson, Atley. Essendon: Heppell, Chapman, Daniher, Goddard, Hurley, Colyer.
UMPIRES: Donlon, Findlay, Margetts.
CROWD: 78,559 at the MCG.
Throughout this season, both North Melbourne and Essendon have been unable to find anything like the sort of consistency they’d like. It’s made watching the Roos and Dons heart-in-mouth stuff for their fans. But that unpredicability also helped turned the elimination final into a ripper.
Essendon dominated the first half, particularly the second quarter, and yet like last week against Carlton, even when the Bombers got more than five goals in front, you couldn’t be absolutely certain how things would pan out. And thus it proved.
North’s spark seemed to come from nowhere, big forward Ben Brown lighting the fuse with three goals in seven minutes as the Roos banged on five in 11minutes to creep within three points. Essendon hung in there for some time.
Four times North got the gap under a goal, and four times the Bombers, with their own young tyro up forward in Joe Daniher, replied to stretch it back out to a goal-and-a-bit.
Then North hit the front for the first time through Lindsay Thomas and again the Bombers held the line, Paddy Ryder marking, playing on and giving his team the narrowest of leads once more. But true to the inconsistent form lines, this game was about to be won by someone whose previous role had been little more than a bit-part.
To be blunt about it, Drew Petrie had had a dirty evening, just eight disposals, a small handful of marks and one measly behind with only just over four minutes to play. But it was he who put the Roos up once more with a hurried right-foot snap.
The ball returned to the middle, the Roos won another clearance, Daniel Wells, brilliant all night for his team, slipped a handball to the veteran big man, who again snapped on target. Another point for good measure finished Essendon off once and for all.
But as dominant as the Bombers had looked at times, there always remained the sense things could alter dramatically. Essendon has jumped out of the blocks a few times this season. This looked like being another such occasion, kicked off by Daniher’s left-foot snap in the second minute.
For the next few minutes, the youngster rode the adrenalin, having another shot from a free kick, and marking again only to drag his shot to the left, North Melbourne still attempting to work itself into the game by the time Travis Colyer had raced into an open goal for Essendon’s second.
The Dons had the run, and were winning the hard ball as well, and with 2.3 that could have been more, the Roos needed a circuit-breaker sooner than later. They got it courtesy of Nick Dal Santo, who raced on to a handball from Jack Ziebell after Jason Winderlich’s kick-in from a behind had drifted over Dyson Heppell’s head and resulted in a costly turnover.
And circuit-breaker became a big lift after Watson’s handball to Michael Hibberd had a little too much loop, allowing Thomas to apply a beautiful bump.
Not as beautiful, however, as Wells’ centre to an unmarked Levi Greenwood. That made the gap just one point.
Essendon was dominating the clearances, a worried North coaching box had already moved from Michael Firrito on Daniher to Nathan Grima and back to Firrito, yet still the Roos headed to the first break with plenty of confidence. It didn’t take long, however, for that to again become concern. In fact, only about seven minutes.
Again the Bombers stole the initiative. Colyer was providing the run, experienced head Paul Chapman the smarts, while Heppell, as has become the norm, just racked up the classy touches.
Colyer booted his second with a clever dribbled kick after the ball had broken into space. Only a couple of minutes later, Daniher had his second after a panicked Firrito hung on in a marking contest. And what loomed as a pivotal moment came midway through the term.
Wells had been a beacon for North Melbourne, not only winning a heap of ball, but using it with a precision several of his teammates weren’t able to match, let alone putting his foot to the pedal to time and again sprint into space.
But Wells chanced his arm a little too much with a pass intended for Firrito in the centre of the ground. David Zaharakis sprinted towards the contest, got a fist to the ball, and followed up with a handball to Goddard.
An open forward 50 loomed beyond the former Saint star, and he let loose from inside the centre square, the ball bouncing truly and through, the Dons now having kicked three goals from their seven forward entries, North scoreless from 10.
And the situation became more critical still when Daniher again created enough of a contest to bring the ball to ground in a position to tap to Chapman, the triple premiership hero never likely to miss the resultant right foot snap from the goalsquare.
North went to the long break with a deserved reputation for decent second halves, but also with a paltry two goals on the scoreboard Its spirits might have dipped to breaking point once Chapman, playing his best game with his second club, made it 33 points the difference under four minutes into the second half. But without the slightest hint it was on the verge of something, North suddenly exploded into action.
Ben Brown then put his stamp on the game.
His first goal was a ‘‘Joe the Goose’’ over the top, but Brown followed it up with another mark and conversion barely a minute later. He got involved in the next from Thomas, kicked a third a couple of moments after that, then Sam Gibson chipped in to incredibly reduce the gap to just three points, the Roos having now slammed on five goals in just 11 minutes.
North had Wells as a constant force, helped by a superb second half from Ben Cunnington. When most of their mates jumped on board, the Roos were irrepressible.
They’ll need a lot more of that spark and a lot earlier next week against Geelong. They have a week to find that.
Essendon has plenty of homework, too, despite what at times this year has been an exhilarating ride. The Dons have got enough to look forward to. Unfortunately for them, however, not another game in 2014.
