![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1fd9e8feb443a3c0e7ff1305e00989af6ff0ed64.png\")
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April 6, 2026 \u2014 12:22am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n There was a rare ray of light for Essendon in a positive hour at Marvel Stadium on what initially looked another awful night on Sunday.<\/p>\n Brad Scott\u2019s winless Bombers managed a solitary goal in a calamitous opening two quarters where they trailed the unbeaten Western Bulldogs by 54 points. They seemed headed for a triple-digit hiding after losing to the same opposition by 91 and 93 points in clashes last year.<\/p>\n Instead, Essendon belatedly showed some fight to spare some blushes. But there was some unknown, even confusion, in both camps about what they just saw in a game of wildly contrasting halves.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously disappointing to start the way we did, and you wish that you could come out in the first half, the way we did in the second,\u201d Bombers captain Andy McGrath told this masthead.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cBut when you\u2019re in those situations, you look at guys\u2019 character and see how they respond. I was really proud of the group and how they responded in that second half [because] it would have been easy to succumb to the Bulldogs\u2019 pressure and let them play the way they wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n Essendon charged out of the middle on resumption, and Kyle Langford set up the returning Tom Edwards \u2013 playing his first AFL game since suffering an ACL rupture a year ago \u2013 for a goal inside the opening minute of the second half.<\/p>\n That moment set the tone for a much-improved quarter. They went on to hold the high-octane Dogs goalless (they kicked seven behinds) in the term, while slotting four majors of their own.<\/p>\n The Bombers\u2019 intent looked different \u2013 ex-skipper Zach Merrett went from zero tackles at half-time to finishing with a match-high seven \u2013 they did a far better job of clogging up the Bulldogs\u2019 ball movement, and even had some pulsating counter-attacks through the corridor.<\/p>\n The Dogs helped Essendon\u2019s cause with some haphazard kicking, but the deficit was back to a more-respectable 35 points by three-quarter-time, and 34 at the final siren.<\/p>\n You read correctly: the Bombers won both the last two quarters, yet still suffered a club-record-equalling 17th consecutive defeat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a fact that can\u2019t be argued. No one puts the number up with an asterisk next to it, and says, \u2018For 90 per cent of those games, you could hardly field a team\u2019,\u201d Scott said of the streak.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one cares about that \u2013 and I don\u2019t care, either. It\u2019s just one of those facts you have to deal with, and it potentially can get demoralising, but that\u2019s what we\u2019re fighting against, and that\u2019s the challenge we\u2019re all faced with.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article The fascination is whether Essendon\u2019s mini-uprising in the second half \u2013 against the only team yet to lose this season \u2013 means anything at all, or whether it owed more to the Bulldogs getting sloppy and possibly complacent.<\/p>\n The Bombers\u2019 cheer squad seemed genuinely upbeat and found their voice during the third quarter and for most of the second half, illustrating how resilient they clearly are.<\/p>\n A once-mighty club has struggled for far too long, and the injury-ravaged list still looks a long way short of being a competitive outfit, even if all their better players are healthy.<\/p>\n But there was a positive in Edwards\u2019 comeback game. There is reason to be optimistic about Archer May, a key forward unearthed in last year\u2019s mid-season draft. Isaac Kako had some extra centre-bounce opportunities after half-time and showed some glimpses.<\/p>\n Top-10 draft pick Jacob Farrow had 21 disposals at 90 per cent efficiency in his second game, while Archie Roberts (37 disposals) continues to look like a building block for the future.<\/p>\n Up next are resurgent Melbourne; then there is a trip to the Gold Coast to face the Suns; an Anzac Day showdown with Collingwood; a home match against back-to-back reigning premiers Brisbane; a trip to Sydney to take on the Giants; and an MCG date with rampaging Fremantle.<\/p>\n The Bombers will be underdogs in all of those before running out against Richmond on May 22, a night that might provide them with their best chance to avoid going a year without a victory.<\/p>\n The appropriately named \u201cDreamtime at the \u2019G\u201d match against the Tigers, who are also winless this season, could take on more meaning for Scott and Essendon, whose last win was over Richmond in the corresponding clash on May 23, 2025.<\/p>\n![\"Essendon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/70856b470487c9075ac407f4580c0d62e3748117.jpeg\")
Essendon coach Brad Scott was disappointed with his side\u2019s first quarter, but liked the second-half response.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/494c7cd2008e78848f6e16347868f07446b7553e.jpeg\")
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Archer May\u2019s performance was a bright spot for Essendon.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775099844_497_debacc87ec305a7a4c79c57ae5c441a542dbe632.jpeg\")
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Tom Edwards (middle) was part of the Bombers\u2019 second-half fightback in his first AFL game back from an ACL rupture.Getty Images<\/p>\n
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