Author Topic: Media articles and stats: Tigers claw out narrow win  (Read 3596 times)

Offline one-eyed

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Media articles and stats: Tigers claw out narrow win
« on: July 19, 2008, 06:40:40 PM »
Tigers claw out narrow win
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
4:45 PM Sat 19 July, 2008

RICHMOND  5.2  11.5  12.9  16.12 (108)
ESSENDON  3.2  7.5  13.7  15.14 (104)

GOALS
RICHMOND: Morton 4, Brown 3, Deledio 3, Simmonds 2, Johnson, Bowden, Tambling, Hughes
ESSENDON: Lucas 3, Stanton 2, Jetta 2, Lloyd 2, Hille, Atkinson, Lonergan, Reimers, Slattery, Laycock

BEST
RICHMOND:  Simmonds, Brown, Foley, Morton, Deledio, Newman, Tambling
ESSENDON: Stanton, Watson, Hille, Reimers, Lucas, Lloyd, Peverill

INJURIES
RICHMOND: Late change: Thursfield in for Connors         
ESSENDON: Monfries (left ankle), Welsh (concussion), Jay Neagle (ankle), Late change: Michael in for Fletcher (ankle)

REPORTS: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Ryan, Head

Official crowd: 56,746 at the MCG

----------------------------
A SUPERB final term from Nathan Brown has rescued the Tigers from defeat by Essendon at the MCG, giving his team a four-point victory on Saturday afternoon.

A poor third quarter from the hosts saw Essendon kick six unanswered goals before a Richmond major just before the break got it back inside a goal. Scott Lucas kicked one five minutes after the restart, but then Brown kicked three and Troy Simmonds one as Essendon finished the game with a flurry of behinds from missed opportunities.

The Bombers were down to one man on the bench by the third quarter but kept running hard despite the lack of rotations available to them. The Tigers eventually won 16.12 (108) to 15.14 (104).

Richmond had all the answers in the first half, and went to the long break with a lead of four goals, but the Bombers almost stole the game in the end.

The Tigers played terrific footy in the first half – looking to run on at every opportunity, pumping the ball long and using the pill constructively.

But after half time it was like watching a different team – kicking backwards, kicking short, holding play up at every opportunity.

Brown was brilliant in the last, but Simmonds was terrific all game in the ruck against David Hille and just as good around the ground. Nathan Foley ran himself into the turf through the middle; Mitch Morton and Brett Deledio were good forward, while Chris Newman provided good run all day.

For the Bombers, Scott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd provided problems all day, with Lloyd often pushing well up the ground. Hille was useful and Kyle Reimers provided good rebound. Midfielders Jobe Watson and Brent Stanton got a lot of the footy.

The first term got off to a sluggish and error-ridden start with both teams struggling to keep their feet. It took seven minutes before the first goal was scored, when Kane Johnson took advantage of being caught high.  The teams swapped goals before Richmond kicked another pair, and the Tigers led by 12 points at the first change.

Joel Bowden kicked a ripper after two minutes to start the second. Leroy Jetta replied with his first after missing two golden chances in the first, then the Tigers booted three in a row to go to a 29-point lead
Scott Lucas then grabbed terrific pack mark to drag one back, but Deledio went to ground level for a diving mark to restore the lead. Brent Stanton kicked a couple for Essendon before Morton's fourth meant a lead of four goals at the long break.

The Bombers went mad in the third, but their lack of ability to rotate players to the bench in the last told and the Tigers snuck home.

Next week Richmond play the Lions at Telstra Dome, while Essendon meets Collingwood at the MCG.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6301/Default.aspx?newsId=63690

Offline one-eyed

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Richmond beat Essendon by four points (AAP)
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2008, 06:43:30 PM »
Richmond beat Essendon by four points
July 19, 2008 - 4:55PM

Richmond have hung on for a four-point win over Essendon in a see-sawing AFL match at the MCG.

The Tigers kicked four goals to two in the last quarter to hold off the Bombers 16.12 (108) to 15.14 (104).

The game finished with six-straight behinds to Essendon, including two misses from set shots by Justin Laycock.

Veteran Richmond defender Joel Bowden also twice conceded rushed behinds, rather than bring the ball back into play, to deliberately run down the clock.

Richmond midfielder Nathan Foley had a game-high 31 possessions and Mitch Morton kicked four goals for the Tigers.

Essendon were down to only one fit man on the bench after Andrew Welsh, Angus Monfries and Jay Neagle were all injured.

The win means Richmond stay in contention for the top eight and they also broke Essendon's four-game winning streak

Richmond kicked three of the first four goals of the match and led by 18 points, before a snap from Jarrod Atkinson gave him his first AFL major and reduced the margin to 12 points at quarter-time.

Welsh, one of Essendon's best players in the last month, started the run of Essendon injuries when he went off in the first quarter with apparent concussion.

The Tigers broke clear in the second term, extending their lead to as much as 29 points before going into the long break with a four-goal advantage.

Monfries was carried off in the second after hurting his left ankle.

Richmond seemed in control, but Essendon fought back brilliantly in the third term.

They kicked six unanswered goals, taking the lead by two goals.

Their surge featured an incredible goal from Scott Lucas, who soccered the ball through from out of mid-air on an acute angle.

But by three-quarter time they were down to only one fit man on the bench, after Jay Neagle limped off early in the term.

Matthew Lloyd marked and goalled to put Essendon 11 points, five minutes into the final term, but the Tigers were pressing.

Two-straight goals to Nathan Brown gave them back the lead and he kicked another in the last quarter to redeem his quiet afternoon.

Tigers ruckman Troy Simmonds was also outstanding in the last quarter.

Bombers key defender Dustin Fletcher was a late withdrawal, making way for Mal Michael, while Richmond backman Will Thursfield came in for Daniel Connors.

http://news.smh.com.au/sport/richmond-beat-essendon-by-four-points-20080719-3hu4.html

Offline one-eyed

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Stats: Tigers vs Bombers
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2008, 07:01:42 PM »
Team Stats

Disposals:     366 - 313
Efficiency%:    76 - 76
Kicks:           211 - 192
Handballs:    155 - 121
Con. Marks:      9 - 11
Uncon. Marks: 97 - 88
Tackles:          49 - 50
Clearances:     30 - 34
Clangers:        50 - 49
Frees:             25 - 15
Con. possies: 118 - 113
Uncon.possies: 249 - 200
Inside 50s:       64 - 46
Assists:            20 - 15
Hitouts:            27 - 30

Individual Stats

player         D EFF% K H G B CM UM T CL C

Foley         31   81 10 21 0 0 0   2 4 8 2
Tuck          27   81 13 14 0 0 0   7 5 2 2
Brown        26   88 17   9 3 1 0 11 1 2 2
McMahon    26   73 14 12 0 2 0   7 0 1 3
Johnson      23   74 15   8 1 2 0  8 1 3 1
Deledio       19   63 11   8 3 1 2  6 1 1 2
Tambling    19   63 15   4 1 1 1  4 7 3 4
McGuane    18   72   8 10 0 0 0  4 1 0 2
Bowden      17   71 12   5 1 0 0  6 2 0 5
Cotchin       17   82  9   8 0 0 0  8 2 2 4
Newman     17   88 15   2 0 0 0  4 1 0 1
Morton       16   56  14   2 4 3 2  5 5 0 4
Moore        15   80    8   7 0 0 1  5 5 0 4
Polo           15   93   4  11 0 0 0  3 2 2 1
Simmonds 15   80  10   5 2 0 1  6 2 0 1
White        14   50  10   4 0 0 0  3 2 3 1
Schulz       13   77    8   5 0 0 0  3 1 2 1
Edwards    12   75    6   6 0 1 0  2 2 1 2
Pattison       9   89   3   6 0 0 1  0 2 0 1
Riewoldt      8   63   7   1 0 0 1  3 1 0 5
Thursfield    7   71   1   6 0 0 0  0 2 0 1
Hughes       2 100   1   1 1 0 0  0 0 0 1

player FF FA CP UP I50 A   
   
Foley         2 0 13 16 4 1       
Tuck          3 1 12 16 5 0       
Brown        2 0  8 18 2 1     
McMahon    1 1  2 24 5 2     
Johnson      3 0  4 20 6 3       
Deledio       0 1  6 12 4 2     
Tambling    1 0  6 13 4 0       
McGuane    1 1  8 10 0 0     
Bowden      1 2  5 12 2 0     
Cotchin      1 0  4 12 1 0       
Newman    1 0  2 16 5 2     
Morton       2 0  7 10 4 0       
Moore        2 4  6   9 0 0     
Polo           1 1  6   9 0 0       
Simmonds  0 1 4  11 3 1       
White         1 1 6   8 6 0       
Schulz        1 0 4 10 4 2       
Edwards      0 0 7  5 4 3     
Pattison      1 0 4   5 2 2     
Riewoldt     0 1 2   6 3 1     
Thursfield   0 1 1   6 0 0       
Hughes      1 0 1   1 0 0

http://superstats.heraldsun.com.au/gamestatslive/5015504.html

Tigermonk

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Re: Media articles and stats: Tigers claw out narrow win
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2008, 01:08:12 AM »
hope the lads enjoy this win, cause it really meant alot to many of them & l thank them dearly & will never forget thier effort for the club & the supporters it had meaning. The Essendon football club played well & really tryed to take it from us.
That didnot happen because the players wanted to win

Offline one-eyed

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Tigers rush to leave brave Bombers behind (The Age)
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2008, 05:46:24 AM »
Tigers rush to leave brave Bombers behind
Rohan Connolly | The Age | July 20, 2008

THIS game ended as it began, less than gloriously. There was a goal the difference with 28 seconds to play when Richmond veteran Joel Bowden went to take a kick-in from Brent Stanton's point.

Quite legitimately, he played on, then rushed the ball behind the line to concede a point. Five points now, 10 seconds left. By the time Bowden repeated the previous step, it was four points, but only two seconds, and victory now assured. It was anti-climactic stuff, but, for Richmond, such tactics were perfectly understandable.

This was a good win for the Tigers, but, perversely, had they not got over the line, it would have been considered a terrible loss, having given up at one stage a 29-point lead against a side which, from the early stages of the final quarter, had just one fit player left on the interchange bench.

Which, just as perversely, was around the same time a lethargic and sloppy-looking Essendon had finally clicked into gear.

Richmond had dominated the first half on the scoreboard because of its cleaner and sharper use of the ball, and for having a winning key forward.

Last week, it was Jack Riewoldt who bobbed up. Yesterday, it was Mitch Morton, the former Eagle having booted 4.2 of his eventual 4.3 in the first two terms with a combination of good leading and marking, and some smart ground-level play.

The Tigers also had a real class act around goal and in the middle in Brett Deledio, who'd kicked three to the same stage and led his Bomber opponents a merry dance.

Richmond hasn't had a great tradition of skilful ball use these past couple of decades, but it shone early yesterday compared to its opponent, which won the ball in close well, but proceeded to butcher it once in possession.

That was happening right from the start, when Leroy Jetta ran into an open goal. He could have shot but popped a handball over the top to Scott Lucas, who promptly fumbled the chance.

There was a similar, but even worse clanger later in the first quarter when Jetta again exploded into an open goal but appeared to want to walk the ball all the way through, eventually nailed by Richmond's Luke McGuane.

Essendon pegged back a couple of goals through Brent Stanton close to the long break, but it didn't look much of a chance as it trudged from the field knowing that, already without two key runners in Mark McVeigh and Andrew Lovett, it had now lost two more injured in Angus Monfries and highly successful run-with man Andrew Welsh.

It would soon lose key forward Jay Neagle as well. But the Essendon which returned to the MCG after half-time was a different proposition altogether, and had within about 10 minutes turned this game on its head.

The Bombers now won the centre breaks and actually used them to advantage with quick, direct movement of the ball, which gave its forwards and crumbers a genuine chance.

Jetta pegged one back within two minutes. Then Sam Lonergan, then Kyle Reimers, who was continually pumping the ball long into the forward line.

Then Scott Lucas. Henry Slattery. And when Lucas booted what will be close to the goal of the year — an amazing but calculated mid-air hack from near the boundary line — Essendon, incredibly, held an 11-point lead. For the Tigers, disaster loomed.

Fortunately for coach Terry Wallace's debilitated condition — having suffered a chest infection in the lead-up — some coolness and class in the end prevailed as Essendon's burst and its inability to find sufficient midfield rotations took their toll. The Bombers had led the clearances 30-18 at the last change. But Richmond took over the stoppages in the final term 12-4, and its best players stood up.

Like Nathan Foley, who racked up 12 disposals and four clearances in the hectic final-term traffic.

Like Nathan Brown, good enough in the first three quarters, but a matchwinner when it mattered with three last-quarter goals, the first two being clever snaps which put the Tigers in front, the last of which just about sealed victory.

And like Troy Simmonds, who took some important marks and also kicked a critical late goal.

The Dons had great triers, too, ruckman David Hille superb again. Jobe Watson his usual prolific self and tremendous in the clinches, and livewire Reimers an inspiration when the Bombers made their big play in the third term. But lack of manpower hurt. So did the final-term wastefulness of Jason Laycock and Stanton.

If you kick points in the dying seconds, you give the opposition the ball. And, in the hands of a canny customer like Bowden, the chance to wind down the clock.

BEST
Richmond: Foley, Brown, Deledio, Simmonds, Tuck, Moore, McGuane.

THE UPSHOT
The Tigers stayed in finals contention with their seventh win, but it was hardly convincing enough to fill them with confidence for next Saturday night's clash with the Brisbane Lions. The Bombers' injuries cut deep, but so did their inaccuracy. They have 26 players to choose from against a wobbly Collingwood next week.

TALKING POINT
Scott Lucas performed a convincing impersonation of Ronaldo with a goal booted out of fresh air, around his body, from about 25 metres out on a tight angle. It was either sublime or ridiculous, depending on your allegiance.

HOT AND COLD
Leroy Jetta plays on instinct, so he should trust it. He had two chances to kick goals in the first quarter, but paid for erring on the side of unselfishness. Showed his brilliance later by conjuring a goal from the clutches of tackler Chris Newman, then with a snap from the boundary line. In future, Matthew Knights wants him to "pull the trigger".

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfmatchreport/tigers-rush-to-leave-brave-bombers-behind/2008/07/19/1216163236090.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Offline one-eyed

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Dons left feeling sick as Wallace laps up tonic (The Age)
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2008, 05:47:39 AM »
Dons left feeling sick as Wallace laps up tonic
Peter Hanlon | The Age | July 20, 2008

AFTER a game that could have been played for the Medicare Cup, so sharp was its focus on health, football has a new truism: a team with a crook coach will always beat a team with only one fit man on the bench.

Terry Wallace's week under the weather was the dominant player in pre-match dissection of his Tigers and Bombers, crowned yesterday morning by Coodabeen Greg Champion's ode Terry's Got The Lurgy (sung to the tune of Ferry Cross The Mersey). It seemed not so much a matter of Gerry and the Pacemakers, but whether Terry might need one.

But the man known as Plough ploughed on, recovering sufficiently from a respiratory infection to vacate his hospital bed on Friday and take his customary position in the Richmond coach's box at the MCG.

At quarter and three-quarter-time he bounded on to the field and addressed the troops as normal, with an understandable delegation of post-match media duties to assistant Brian Royal the only apparent departure from routine. As onballer Nathan Foley noted, the coach with the famously gravelled vocals was "full of voice".

Royal said Wallace had thanked the coaching group for their efforts "in a pretty tough week", one which highlighted the benefits of modern telecommunications. "The great thing about mobile phones is you can continue to keep in contact with people," he said.

"We spoke regularly to Terry, whether that be at home or from the hospital bed. Terry was doing a lot of work while he was away from the club." Foley said the coach was "usually in every day and floating around the club, but he steered clear early in the week and by the time he came back he wouldn't have been contagious". Royal, David King and Jade Rawlings ensured all continued to run smoothly.

Indeed, with his Tigers on top early it seemed Wallace's biggest challenge might be navigating the half-time journey from a vantage point on the northern side of the ground to the Richmond rooms under the southern stand. A golf buggy spared him an unwanted trot across the turf, picking him up from the lifts and ferrying him through the stadium's basement.

Upon returning to the box for the third quarter, a sickly feeling of sorts came back too as the Bombers kicked six unanswered goals. Not generally one to look pale, the coach must have felt decidedly queasy when Adam Pattison spoiled Kelvin Moore's attempt at mark of the year, and Henry Slattery screwed home the goal that put the Dons in front.

Six minutes later, Scott Lucas' volleyed goal of the year contender from deep in the forward pocket was, as the young folk might say, absolutely sick.

Had the Tigers, having been so in the pink, caught some kind of bug?

Matthew Lloyd put his team 11 points clear and temperatures continued to rise.

Enter Nathan Brown, a man whose health has been so closely monitored in recent years he might be a lab rat. His three last-quarter goals were a telling antidote to Essendon's heart.

By now, the crowded red-and-black sick bay had begun to tell, Andrew Welsh having staggered off in the first quarter, Angus Monfries limping stage left in the second, and Jay Neagle hobbling out of the game in the third. That they joined runner David Calthorpe was bordering on comical.

"I knew the day started to go pear-shaped when my runner, David Calthorpe, did a calf in the first 10 minutes," coach Matthew Knights lamented.

"It went downhill from there."

Yet there was reason to keep a little colour in the cheeks, Knights admitting: "They played better football in the second half with 19 than in first with 22."

Royal was generous in his praise of the vanquished — "to stay in the game was a credit to them" — while Foley said the contemporary volume and speed of rotations across every line meant Essendon's lack of numbers would have had "a huge impact".

A six-day turnaround after a trip to Perth that drained the whole group, not just the coach, meant the Tigers weren't exactly downhill skiing at the end either. The sight of Foley, hunched over and heaving for breath as he took a quick last-quarter break, illustrated their physical struggles.

But when the siren sounded, and three poorly Dons in tracksuit tops limped from the dugout to console their teammates, it was the Bombers who were spewing.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/dons-feel-sick-as-wallace-laps-up-tonic/2008/07/19/1216163236093.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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Richmond Tigers win, but it's a sore point (Herald-Sun)
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2008, 05:51:46 AM »
Richmond Tigers win, but it's a sore point
Mark Harding | July 19, 2008 11:30pm

JOEL Bowden's refusal to kick the ball into play in the final minute of the match against Essendon was similar in the way it ensured a win. But it cheapened the victory.

Richmond fell over the line by four points to keep alive its slimmest of finals hopes, but it was hardly the Tigers' finest hour.

It had coughed up a four-goal half-time lead in a dismal third term.

But with the Bombers almost out on their feet with a lack of bench rotation, the Tigers should have run away with the match after regaining the lead and dominating the first half of the final quarter.

Instead, they went back into their shells for the second time and the Dons, despite playing the second half with only 19 fit players, were able to claw - and crawl - their way back into the match.

The last six scores of the match were points to Essendon, including the two walk-throughs by Bowden.

When Brett Stanton missed a relatively easy shot there were 28 seconds on the clock and six points the difference.

Rather than invest some faith in his teammates, Bowden was content to concede two points to make certain of victory, but there were widespread boos of disapproval from the crowd of 56,746.

Although from kick-ins it is a free kick if a player sends the ball out of bounds without it being touched by another player, there is no penalty for walking the ball back across the line so Bowden's tactic was within the laws, though hardly the spirit.

The amazing thing was that it needed to come to that anyway.

Richmond had earned a clear advantage in the first half with Mitch Morton kicking four goals and Brett Deledio three in an open forward line.

The Tigers' defence had withstood an Essendon dominance at the centre bounces and clearances to rebound the ball constantly forward and help their side to a 29-point lead halfway through the second quarter.

Then, after a disastrous third term where they conceded six goals to one to turn four points down at the final change, they got right back on top in the first half of the fourth quarter.

Nathan Brown kicked three goals, Troy Simmonds lifted to get on top of a tiring David Hille and Nathan Foley and Matt White used their speed to break apart the Bomber challenge.

Brown's third goal at the 17-minute mark gave the Tigers a nine-point advantage and the Dons looked spent.

Having lost Dustin Fletcher with an ankle injury before the game, they lost their in-form tagger Andrew Welsh to concussion in the first term.

Then Angus Monfries was carried from the field in the second with an ankle injury and Jay Neagle was removed from the contest with a leg injury early in the third term.

The lack of bench rotation cost the Bombers dearly, but they showed enormous spirit to stay in the contest. Misses to Jason Laycock and Stanton were costly, and so was an earlier brain snap from Hille when he was caught holding the ball in attack.

From the free, the ball sped down to Hille's opponent, Simmonds, for a 12-point turnaround.

The Dons also got off to a zany start when several players, including Scott Lucas and Leroy Jetta, had trouble keeping their feet in the first term.

Jetta twice ran into open goals, but rather than kick certain goals tried to run around opponents and lost his footing.

Lucas left the field and changed his boots early, but Jetta waited until the second term before changing his, then running straight back on to the field to snap a goal under intense pressure.

Lucas also kicked one of the goals of the year in the third term, when he applied a mid-air soccer shot from 30m out on the boundary.

It was the fourth of a run of six consecutive goals, which threatened to turn the match on its head.

The Dons had solid contributions from Jobe Watson and Stanton all day, but it was young players such as Kyle Reimers, Sam Lonergan and Paddy Ryder who sparked them in the third term.

Richmond's best was Brown with three terrific quarters and one absolute stunner, and Foley, who was tagged early by Welsh until his injury, picked up 31 possessions and set up numerous scoring chances with his heavy duty work and quick run out of the middle.

It was one of those games where the midfielders shared the votes, although Morton was best on ground in the first half before fading out of it.

Luke McGuane thrashed Lucas early and was the best of an excellent Tiger backline, while Matthew Lloyd and Kelvin Moore had a top battle the with honours to the Bomber captain.

The Tigers are in finals contention, but they were lucky to get out of yesterday and must defeat Brisbane Lions next week before running head on into Geelong in a fortnight.

After four consecutive wins, the impossible dream for the Bombers is over, but they can be well pleased with the improvement they have shown since they last played Richmond in Round 9.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/sport/afl/story/0,26547,24046396-5016212,00.html

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Essendon fans slam Richmond player Joel Bowden's tactic (Herald-Sun)
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2008, 05:57:17 AM »
Essendon fans slam Richmond player Joel Bowden's tactic
Ken Piesse | July 20, 2008 12:00am

RICHMOND is bristling at accusations Joel Bowden had acted in an unsporting manner by deliberately wasting time as the Tigers beat Essendon. Coming off the bench with two minutes to go, Bowden coolly rushed consecutive points to chew up vital time and repel a late Essendon charge.

"He was ready to do it again and again, too," Richmond assistant coach Brian Royal said last night.

"It was smart work. It doesn't matter if you win by one point or five points, does it?"

Indignant Essendon supporters jammed talkback radio last night, accusing Bowden of poor sportsmanship and asking for the rules to be changed.

One said Bowden had brought the game into disrepute.

Adding to the controversial finish, which keeps Richmond's finals hopes alive, Bowden's teammate Nathan Brown was also under fire, from his bench, after failing to chase Bomber Nathan Lovett-Murray with enough gusto in the first minute of the frenetic last term.

"The runner came out and said my chase was p--- weak," said Brown, who responded with three match-winning goals in the next 15 minutes.

"No one likes to hear that sort of criticism. You take it on board and you go from there."

Bowden refused to comment last night, but Royal, standing in for an exhausted coach Terry Wallace, said he had shown commendable initiative not to kick the ball in and give a fast-finishing Essendon a chance of a gallant, last-gasp win.

"We thought it was fantastic what he did," Royal said.

"He iced about 40 seconds off the clock, which was exactly what was needed."

In hospital for much of the week with a bad virus, Wallace returned home last night, having been discharged on Friday night.

"He used a golf cart to get around to the rooms, but other than that everything was normal," Royal said.

"He said afterwards it was lucky it was only a bad virus and not a heart problem. It was pretty tense there at the end."

Essendon coach Matthew Knights said his former team was a genuine challenger for a late-entry into the eight, especially with the likely return of Matthew Richardson against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.

"They have a healthy list, which helps you to win games at this time of the year," Knights said.

"They are going to be pretty competitive most weeks, if they can maintain their best team. It's going to be a fair run for the line."

Asked about Bowden, Knights said it "was pretty good play . . . full marks to Joel. He did what he had to do to win the game".

Forced to coach with 19 fit players from early in the game, Knights said Essendon may have been gallant, but had blown its chances.

"We're very disappointed. With 10 minutes to go we were right in it and we had chances, but just couldn't get the ball through," he said.

Brown (three goals) and Troy Simmonds (one) were among the last-quarter matchwinners alongside Nathan Foley and young Shane Edwards, who was shifted to half-back with telling results.

Essendon is likely to be missing Jay Neagle and Angus Monfries with ankle injuries against Collingwood on Saturday. Andrew Welsh (concussion) is also in doubt, but Dustin Fletcher, a late withdrawal, should be back for game 291.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24047856-19742,00.html