Lions fend off gallant Bombers outfit

Brisbane Lions   114 defeated Essendon   101

The Brisbane Lions have held off a gallant and fast-finishing Essendon side, earning a thrilling 13-point victory at the Gabba on Saturday night.

With just over eight minutes to go and 21 points down, Essendon nearly pulled off a fantastic comeback by booting three successive goals through Matthew Lloyd, Andrew Lovett and Andrew Welsh to cut the margin to three points. But the Lions were able to hold on with Anthony Corrie and Ashley McGrath kicking late goals to seal the match.

Their was no change to the Brisbane side, but Essendon did make two changes from their named side. As expected James Hird missed due to a virus, whilst Dean Rioli also didn’t play after an ankle injury. Replacing the injured pair were youngsters Sam Hunt and Angus Monfries.

The win came at a cost for Brisbane, with star midfielder Jason Akermanis leaving the field early in the third term with a hamstring injury and not returning. For Essendon, big man Courtney Johns also came off with a hamstring injury in the third quarter.

For the Lions, Simon Black had 30 possessions and was dominant through the midfield. Black was ably assisted by Nigel Lappin who had 29 touches and Michael Voss with 28 possessions. The Lions received lots of drive from the half back line through Josh Drummond who had 26 touches and Chris Johnson who finished with 21 possessions. Up forward for the victors, Jonathan Brown was dominant with five goals and nine marks, whilst small forward Anthony Corrie chipped in with four goals.

The first term saw the Lions control the play, booting five goals to Essendon’s one. The Bombers had 1.7 on the board at the first break, after gettable shots on goal were missed by Mark Bolton, Matthew Lloyd and Nathan Lovett-Murray. Jonathan Brown booted two first term goals and was presenting a strong target, with one of his goals on the quarter-time siren to hand the Lions a 20 point quarter time lead.

Both sides kicked three goals in the second quarter, and this time it was the Lions’ turn to be wasteful in front of goal, booting 3.6. The Lions had several efforts to further add to their lead but their conversion was poor. Jonathan Brown kicked one goal for the term to add his tally to three and the Lions went into the long break 24 points in front.

During the first half the Lions had many stars with Jason Akermanis dominating the second term, (18 possessions) whilst Josh Drummond (12 possessions) was giving the Lions plenty of drive off the half-back line. For the Bombers, Damien Peverill had his fair share of the ball (16 possessions) and Dustin Fletcher was also good (12 possessions).

Essendon piled on the pressure in the third term, kicking six goals to Brisbane’s three and putting the Lions under some very intense pressure. The Bombers booted three un-answered goals in the last five minutes with the turning point in the quarter being Joel McDonald’s sitter miss. McDonald under no real pressure, slammed his goal-bound shot into the woodwork from just five-metres out, and as a result Essendon kicked three successive goals to cut the deficit to just four points at the final change.

The Lions won the final term, booting six goals to Essendon’s four despite being severely challenged by the Bombers. Anthony Corrie was the match-winner with three last quarter goals as the Lions got up by 13 points.

Next week sees the Bombers host Geelong on Friday Night at the Telstra Dome in a must-win game for the Cats, whilst the Lions face the in-form Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, also at the Telstra Dome.

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