AFL LIVE: Essendon outlast Port Adelaide, relief for fans after banking four points

Essendon have overcome a week of constant criticism to defeat a disappointing Port Adelaide and kick-start their season after a poor performance against Adelaide in round two.

It was full of grit and effort, and reminded supporters they were prepared to do the work to be competitive even when their game is not working.

For three quarters Essendon had hung around Port Adelaide like a bad smell.

They never had the lead. They didn’t move the ball with any fluency. They dropped marks and missed kicks. But they stayed in touch to only trail by a goal at the first and last break and three points at half-time.

It was difficult to work out how they had managed to stay in the contest. Partly it was coaching with ruckman Nick Bryan sitting behind the play to give the Bombers a spare in defence and Dylan Shiel moving into the middle where he belongs. Partly it was just pure will, with the team laying 48 tackles compared to Port Adelaide’s 31 tackles. The football was as ugly as a hack golfer’s swing, but they remained in the game.

That was enough after the criticism they had received all week to free them up in the final quarter despite conceding the first goal of the final quarter when Jason Horne-Francis produced a piece of brilliance after a quiet game.

Enter the first gamer Saad El-Hawli who had arrived in the game after being subbed on at three-quarter time. He grabbed the ball at halfback, faked a handball, took a bounce and then hit up a leading Isaac Kako. The ball fell short but Kako was good enough to handball it off to Nic Martin who steadied and kicked the goal the Bombers needed.

The celebrations were pure as they ran to congratulate El-Hawi and all of a sudden, their belief returned as quickly as Port Adelaide’s disappeared. Logan Evans gave the ball to Essendon’s Mason Redman via a loose handball and the Bomber kicked a long bomb goal he has become famous for to level the scores.

And that was enough for the Bombers to unleash making the most of their territory dominance to pile on two more goals then hang on for 10 minutes of frantic football.

Both teams have one win to show from three games and face long seasons unless they improve rapidly.