Giants reel in big lead to run down Bombers
Greater Western Sydney have notched their third win in a row, rescuing their season from the brink of disaster with a stirring four-point comeback victory against Essendon – sealed by a controversial free-kick goal from Callan Ward.
The Giants were down by 29 points early in the third quarter after a dominant six-goal second term from the Bombers. But Essendon kicked just 2.4 after half-time and went goalless in the last quarter until the very last seconds, allowing GWS to prise this 8.11 (59) to 8.7 (55) result from their grasp.
Callan Ward of the Giants is congratulated by team mates after kicking the goal that sealed the match. Credit:Getty Images
The Bombers hung on for as long as they could as the Giants mounted wave after wave of attack, but a late breakaway move finished by Jeremy Cameron put them back in front with five minutes left.
Then Ward, making his return from a knee injury, iced the game with a set-shot from a questionable free kick, with the former GWS co-captain appearing to feign head-high contact in a collision with Shaun McKernan inside their attacking 50.
The umpire paid the free kick, and Ward went back and booted what proved to be the winner.
It was enough to keep GWS in the top eight, but for the first half at a rainy Metricon Stadium they were staring down the barrel of a defeat that would have seen them drop out of the top eight.
It's also the first time they've won a game this year without Toby Greene, who hurt his hamstring last weekend and could yet miss their next two fixtures.
The Giants are not a one-man team, but it appears as if there's only one man who can provide the spark that gets them going. It took them far too long to find it on Friday night, and they're lucky it wasn't too late.
The Bombers, led by Zach Merrett (33 disposals) were irrepressible in the second term, outworking and out-enthusing GWS to establish a lead that should have got them home. Then, inexplicably, they stopped.
As for the first quarter – well, the less said the better. There were no goals kicked by either side, making it the lowest-scoring opening stanza since Geelong met Footscray in round one, 1965.
Risk-averse football amid constant congestion helped shatter that unwanted 55-year record, providing more fuel for the ongoing state-of-the-game debate. The only real incident of note was a clash that sent former Giant Jacob Townsend into the middle of next week.
Stephen Coniglio of the Giants is tackled by Dylan Shiel of the Bombers.Credit:Getty Images
As Heath Shaw gathered a loose ball in Essendon's goal square, he made accidental high contact with Townsend, who was laid out and left with a bloodied nose.
Clearly concussed, he tried to push a trainer away as he was ushered off the ground and later emerged on the bench in his tracksuit, and would take no further part in the match. Shaw showed immediate concern for his opponent and should not be in any match-review trouble, given the nature of the collision.
The first goal of the match finally arrived 53 seconds into the second term, as Giants skipper Stephen Coniglio nailed an angled set shot from 40 metres out.
And then came the flood: the Bombers responded with the next five in a row, and after half an hour where neither team seemed capable of kicking a goal, suddenly only one did.
Another ex-Giant, Dylan Shiel, delivered the pick of the lot with a bomb from inside the centre square that sailed through. Shaw snapped Essendon's run to get one back for GWS – his first AFL goal since the 2016 preliminary final. He would finish with two for the night.
Seconds later, Conor McKenna outworked Shaw to the ball at the other end of the ground to snap another major for the Bombers, extending their lead to 22 points at the long break.
When the teams re-emerged from the sheds, it was as if they'd swapped guernseys.
ESSENDON 0.2 6.3 7.5 8.7 (55)
GWS 0.2 2.5 4.7 8.11 (59)
GOALS - Essendon: Langford 2, Saad, Shiel, Zaharakis, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Draper, McKenna
GWS: Shaw 2, Cameron 2, Coniglio, Finlayson, Ward, Himmelberg
BEST - GWS: hitfield, Taranto, Coniglio, Cameron, Hopper, Haynes
Essendon: Merrett, Hurley, Draper, Smith, Saad
UMPIRES Fisher, Deboy, Ryan
CROWD 1178 at Metricon Stadium