It was heartbreak for Essendon as Christian Salem's last gasp goal earned Melbourne a come from behind win on Sunday evening.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos fronts the media after his side's gripping one-point win against Essendon.
Essendon coach Mark Thompson discusses the Bombers' last gasp defeat to Melbourne on Sunday evening.
Melbourne celebrates its shock win over Essendon. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
THE football world arrived at the MCG last night wanting simple answers to an impossible question.
Would Essendon’s week of torture conjure dramatic highs or see the Bombers players turned into a harried, mentally drained bunch?
What we got instead was a fairly pulsating game of football with a last quarter as gripping as anything we have seen this year.
Two old foes Essendon and Melbourne slugging it out and exchanging the lead with the Demons last line repelling another surge as the siren sounded.
The Demons would triumph through the cool finish of first-year left-footer Christian Salem with 19 seconds remaining.
But as for concrete answers on the ASADA effect for an Essendon side which squandered a 33-point third-term lead?
Bombers star David Zaharakis was unable to drag his team over the line. Picture: Mark Stewart Source: News Corp Australia
As the same old forward line deficiencies cost Essendon a spot in the eight after 13 rounds, it was impossible to be definitive about how the week’s torture test affected their play.
How do you measure mental anguish?
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What kind of KPIs are there for peptide fatigue and its related cousin show-cause syndrome?
What we can state with absolute fact is that Jake Carlisle is a defender instead of a forward, that David Zaharakis is in white-hot form and that Essendon won’t win games with 10.17 from 69 inside 50s.
We know that Essendon’s leaders stood tall in the dying seconds despite the loss, as Zaharakis, Brendon Goddard and Paul Chapman reclaimed the lead before it slipped away again.
And we are sure that Salem has ice running through his veins after slotting a 30m goal from a Daniel Cross assist to win the contest for Melbourne.
Demons Jack Viney and Cameron Pedersen share the experience with the fans. Picture: Mark Stewart Source: News Corp Australia
There is no doubt Melbourne is real under Paul Roos, having beaten Essendon, Carlton and Richmond in a season for the first time since 2007.
Yet to suggest the twists and turns of yesterday’s contest were influenced by the emotions of the week would be trite and simplistic.
Put simply, Essendon just isn’t that good a side and didn’t falter as much as continue a theme of dramatic and consistent inaccuracy in front of goal.
Mark Thompson’s Bombers had so many chances to put away this game early and again failed the test.
They would kick just five goals from their 38 first-half entries, dropping half-chances and kicking for goal like a brick.
But every time the Demons surged they let Essendon off the hook with their own MCG butchery by foot.
Yet where Essendon’s greatest triumphs last year came with courage under fire, this time there was clinical play but no instant heroics or post-siren eruption.
Last year it was easier to measure when the ASADA saga cut deep: a 13-3 side hit the wall when finals were in doubt, beating only arch-rival Carlton for kicks in the last six weeks.
Bomber Tom Bellchambers flies high in the ruck. Picture: Mark Stewart Source: News Corp Australia
Scorched into our consciousness are last year’s Round 3 win against the odds against Fremantle and Jobe Watson’s Round 14 performance despite the boos of those who believed him a drug cheat.
Despite that, they hit Melbourne with the first 13 inside 50s and seven of the first ten scoring shots as Joe Daniher again threatened to erupt.
He got his hands on half a dozen great opportunities against Tom McDonald but like his team itself failed to fire.
Then finally they clicked with five goals either side of half time as David Zaharakis put them 33 points to the good ten minutes into the third term.
Game over. Contest neatly tied up into an easy-to-follow storyline.
Of course the Paul Roos-coached Demons decided they weren’t going to turn it up.
Five straight goals to Melbourne saw them grab the lead, then concede it through a pair of Zaharakis goals on the run, before Salem’s goal made it a night to remember.
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