Round 13 – Essendon v Carlton: Blue night for Bombers

 

Round 13
Essendon v Carlton
Sunday 7 June 2026
MCG, Melbourne

 

It was clear from the opening throw-up (doesn’t sound as good as ‘opening bounce’) the Bombers were going to have a crack in their match against the Blues. And, it was a very good crack for most of the game.

 

Against the odds it looked as though the Bombers had a win in their sights. Kicking a couple of quick goals they went to a 23 point lead and were dominating play. Sam Durham was back to his exhilerating best constantly driving the ball forward; Ben McKay looking as though he’d been a forward all his playing career; El Achkar was nippy around goals kicking a couple in the second quarter and could have easily had 4 before half-time. They were dominating play but turnovers by the Bombers in the forward line saw Carlton get too many easy rebounds to attack and kick goals against the flow of play. Frustrating to be in control of play only to make poor decisions, apply poor skills, and provide easy turnovers to the opposition. This is one area Essendon must urgently work on.

 

Then, when we expected the Bombers to continue their surge forward and take the game by the scruff of the neck, they slowed – whether they were in unfamilar terrority of being in a potential winning position and had difficulty coming to terms with that, or lacked the wherewithal of applying the killer blows as should have been expected I don’t know.

 

Or, was it because the Blues came to their senses, applied more pressure, to continue their winning form the team had rediscovered under their interim coach? I think Harry McKay was the turning point in the game kicking 3 goals after half-time and having an influence around the ground, The cream rising to the top when it counted!

 

It is interesting to note the individual AF scores. According to this system Essendon had five of the top seven players on the ground but at the bottom end Essendon filled seven of the eight bottom scores suggests Carlton had by far more players playing their game on par – that is more players in the play. We had too many players down but still only lost by 5 points. Our good players were very good indeed but needed more support when it counted but did not receive it.

 

One of the pleasing aspects to come out of the game for me was the willingness of Dean Solomon to try something different. He played Ben McKay at full forward for most of the game, he took some strong marks and acttacked the ball confidently. His 2 goals 2 points could easily have been 4 goals. Zach Reid moved forward in the dying minutes took a ripping mark  to kick a goal and give a glimmer of hope but not to be. I really do like the idea of Mc Kay and Reid up forward.

 

Hopefully we go into next week’s match against Melbourne with some confidence knowing we already have a win over them this season.

 

Go Bombers!

 

Malarkey Votes

3.  Harry McKay
2.  Sam Durham
1.  Will Settlefield

 

ESSENDON      2.3   6.3   7.4   10.7 (67)
CARLTON        1.2   3.7   6.10   10.12 (72)

 

GOALS
Essendon: McKay 2, El Achkar 2, Redman, Kondogiannis, Durham, Jones, Caddy, Reid
Carlton: McKay 3, Byrne 2, Kemp 2, Hewett, Ainsworth, Hayward

 

BEST
Essendon: Setterfield, Durham, McKay, Reid, Merrett
Carlton: McKay, Hewett, Newman, Smith, Walsh

 

INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Carlton: Nil

 

Crowd: 76,745 at the MCG

 

More Round 13 Reports Here

 

 

More from Col Ritchie can be read Here

 

 

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