A big second half has helped Essendon shake free of Gold Coast and keep its final eight hopes flickering with a 44-point win at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
After trailing by five points at half-time the Bombers put together 15 minutes of clean football early in the third term to give themselves breathing space on the way to a 13.17 (95) to 6.15 (51) victory.
They kicked nine goals to two after the main break to make it six wins in eight matches and momentarily move one win plus percentage outside the eight.
For the victors, skipper Dyson Heppell (36 disposals) led superbly, while Zach Merrett (37) also made the most of playing without a tag.
Michael Hurley (24 and 10 marks) and Cale Hooker (19 and nine marks) cut off a stack of SUNS forward forays, while Adam Saad (19) had a mixed return to Metricon Stadium, offering plenty of drive, but also conceding three goals to tagger Nick Holman.
The match won't go down as a classic, but the Bombers were far too good.
After Gold Coast battled hard in the first two terms the tide turned in the third with quick goals to Darcy Parish, Mitch Brown, Mark Baguley and David Myers offering some breathing space.
Although not playing anywhere near their best, they thoroughly deserved to win, dominating disposals (424-308) and inside
Devon Smith provided the main highlight from the first half, somehow threading the needle with a clever dribble kick from deep in the left forward pocket to kick Essendon's second goal.
But unfortunately, the half was marred by a glut of turnovers as the ball pinged from one team to the other – and then usually back again.
In the same week he extended his contract by a year, Holman was excellent for the SUNS, while Jarrod Harbrow with 25 touches, Jack Martin (20) and captain Steven May (19) also tried hard – May doing so with an injured hip.
The SUNS were fierce around the contest early but not clean enough to take advantage of their dominance.
GOLD COAST 2.8 4.11 4.14 6.15 (51)
ESSENDON 2.4 4.6 8.10 13.17 (95)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Holman 3, Young 2, Sexton
Essendon: Baguley 3, Guelfi 2, McKernan 2, Smith, Long, Parish, Brown, Myers, McDonald-Tipungwuti
BEST
Gold Coast: Holman, May, Martin, Miller
Essendon: Hurley, Smith, Hooker, Heppell, Merrett, Langford
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Fleer, Glouftsis
Official crowd: 13,061 at Metricon Stadium
