Essendon moves to within a game of Geelong and a top-eight berth after disposing of Gold Coast

ESSENDON has moved within a win of the top eight after overcoming a slow start to beat the Gold Coast Suns with losses to both Geelong and Hawthorn opening the door for the Bombers.

Matt Guelfi celebrates a goal with Darcy Parish.

ESSENDON has moved within a win of the top eight after overcoming a slow start to beat the Gold Coast Suns.

Losses to both Geelong and Hawthorn opened the door for the Bombers to edge closer to a finals berth and their 13.17 (95) to 6.15 (51) win in front of 13,061 at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night has put them within four points of the eighth-placed Cats.

Essendon felt September slip a little further away in dewy Queensland conditions before dragging itself back into the contest.

AFL BLOG: RE-CAP ALL THE SUPER SATURDAY ACTION

GODDARD: FREE AGENCY SILENCE BETTER THAN ABUSE

The Suns, who have imploded so many times, took advantage of sloppy errors made by the Bombers to lead by five points at half-time.

Gold Coast grew in confidence throughout the opening stages, winning just its sixth first term this season as Essendon struggled to convert its chances.

Gold Coast began with a spare man behind the ball but switched to man marking as Nick Holman, who re-signed earlier this week, played a shutdown role on former Sun Adam Saad while kicking two first half goals before adding a third in the second.

Devon Smith and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti celebrate a goal.

Touk Miller and Adam Saad in the middle of a scuffle.

Essendon took control in the third, improving its disposal efficiency and dominating on the back of repeated entries inside 50s.

The Bombers gradual improvement throughout the game coincided with another fadeout by the Suns who managed to score just 16 points after half-time.

The Suns are already without Tom Lynch and his co-captain Steven May looked to be carrying an injury for a second straight week.

May aggravated his hip a week prior against North Melbourne and hurt it again after falling heavily from a marking contest in the second quarter.

The key defender’s movement was restricted and he looked reluctant to kick unless completely necessary.

Dyson Heppell is tackled by Josh Schoenfeld.

Steven May leads his players from the field after losing to Essendon.

The potential loss of May going forward would be another blow to an already young Suns team who have fielded a team with an average age of 23 in the past fortnight.

Five of Essendon’s last six regular season games are in Melbourne while next week’s home game against Fremantle will present an opportunity to potentially get on equal ground with Geelong who are inside the eight thanks to a percentage compared to North Melbourne and Hawthorn.

Meanwhile, the loss has left Gold Coast languishing in second last and just two wins ahead of Carlton.

The Suns are in danger of taking the wooden spoon for the first time since their debut season in 2011, with a tough run home including matches against Sydney, Richmond, Geelong and Melbourne.

GOLD COAST 2.8 4.11 4.14 6.15 (51)

ESSENDON 2.4 4.6 8.10 13.17 (95)

BOSWELL’S BEST

Bombers: Heppell, Merrett, Parish, Smith, Baguley.

Suns: Miller, May, Martin, Weller, Holman.

GOALS

Bombers: Baguley 3, Guelfi 2, McKernan 2, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Myers, Parish, Smith, Long, Brown.

Suns: Holman 3, Young 2, Sexton.

INJURIES

Bombers: Nil.

Suns: Nil.

UMPIRES

Nicholls, Fleer, Glouftsis.

CROWD

13,061 at Metricon Stadium.

Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >

Originally published as Essendon moves to within a game of Geelong and a top-eight berth after disposing of Gold Coast