Despite the Dogs' fast finish - they booted five of the last six goals of the game - the Bombers held on for an upset win, 15.9 (99) to 14.6 (90).
After a relatively tight first half, the Bombers burst out of the blocks in the third term, booting the first five goals from set shots. The Bulldogs kept their chances alive with the last two goals of the quarter.
There were some nervous times towards the end of the match when the Bulldogs kicked four goals in time-on of the fourth quarter to cut the margin to single figures, but the Bombers held them at bay.
The Bulldogs become Essendon’s latest big scalp after Matthew Knights' men also toppled the highly rated St Kilda and Carlton, as well as a talented but injury-riddled Hawthorn.
The highly-rated ruck duo of David Hille and Patrick Ryder probably lost out on points to Bulldog ruck Ben Hudson, but Ryder proved to be at his most dangerous up forward where he kicked two handy goals.
Brent Stanton and Jobe Watson once again did the job in the midfield while West Australian natives Leroy Jetta and David Myers both played possibly their best games at senior level.
The Bulldogs showed plenty of toe and ran the ball well but could not set anything up. Slow decision-making and poor disposal was their undoing.
Adam Cooney was one of the main culprits in the possession stakes, butchering several kicks that might have otherwise set up scoring opportunities.
Speaking after the game, Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said the Bombers made his side pay for its poor kicking.
“I have to give credit to Essendon; their pressure was good and they played well but we certainly butchered the ball as well from players who were talented - Cooney, Higgins and a few other players who have got skills but made some basic errors and really didn’t give our forwards any opportunity,” he said.
“When we turned it over, we got hurt on the rebound which you do against good sides.”
Eade drew no positives from his side’s strong finish, suggesting it may have been because of their lack of work over the previous 90 minutes of football.
“I thought their work rate was a lot more than ours. Maybe in the end they tired and because we hadn’t worked as hard we had a little left in the tank,” he said.
Dustin Fletcher had the unenviable job on Barry Hall and wisely used different tactics to North Melbourne's Scott Thompson the week before. Hall had limited supply but still finished with five goals.
Daniel Giansiracusa had little influence on the match finishing with just 14 disposals, while Jason Akermanis also had a very disappointing night, finishing with just 11 touches, four of which came in the first three quarters.
Essendon 3.2 7.5 12.6 15.9 (99)
Western Bulldogs 3.2 6.4 8.4 14.6 (90)
GOALS
Essendon: Gumbleton 3, Davey 2, Ryder 2, Jetta 2, Hocking, Lovett-Murray, Monfries, Myers, Watson, Zaharakis
Western Bulldogs: Hall 5, Hill 3, Gilbee 2, Griffen, Hudson, Lake, Picken
BEST
Essendon: Jetta, Davey, Stanton, Myers, Gumbleton, Winderlich, Watson.
Western Bulldogs: Hudson, Griffen, Picken, Boyd, Higgins
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Jeffery, McInerney
Official crowd: 45,742 at Etihad Stadium
Full match report to follow
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
