Match

Adelaide Crows vs Essendon

Commentary / 19 Apr 2024

Pre Game

00:00
The Bombers have retained possession from 68.8% of Jye Caldwell’s kicks into the forward 50 – the best percentage of the top-10 kicks.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:26
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
01:28
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
02:19
Harrison Jones kicks the first goal of the night after being set up by Jye Caldwell. Caldwell now has five goal assists for Essendon this season ranking him equal first at the club alongside new recruit Jade Gresham.
07:03
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rory Laird)
08:16
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
10:41
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
11:59
Essendon is dominating territory early in this match with 67% of play in its forward half. Essendon leads the inside 50 count 10 to two.
12:02
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Mason Redman)
15:30
Essendon has failed to capitalise on its early territory dominance as Adelaide manages to hit back with a goal from just its third inside 50 of the match. Adelaide scored a goal from 32.7% of its inside 50s last round - showing an ability to capitalise on limited opportunity.
18:48
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
21:08
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
25:12
Izak Rankine had an equal career-high 23 disposals last week against the Blues, also recording three goals and nine score involvements. He has just one disposal so far tonight, late in the first quarter.
26:43
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
27:12
Taylor Walker kicks a long-range goal to bring Adelaide back within two points. The crucial moment in the chain to get the ball to Walker was Darcy Fogarty winning a one-on-one marking contest. Before tonight Fogarty hadn't won any of the eight offensive one-on-one contests he had been involved in this season.
30:39
The majority of metrics sit even between the two sides after the first term. The Bombers have the advantage in marks (21-19) and contested possessions (39-37). While the Crows lead clearances 12 to 10. Despite this, the Bombers have a 16 to six advantage on inside 50s with only a two-point lead on the scoreboard.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:58
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
01:49
Darcy Parish gets Essendon off to a hot start in the second term with a goal. Parish has had 38 and 39 disposals respectively in his last two games against the Crows.
02:50
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
06:42
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
07:10
Zach Merrett is leading the way for Essendon in this match as he has done all season. He has nine contested possessions (his next-best teammate has four) and four clearances (his next-best teammate has two). He leads the club for total contested possessions, clearances, score assists, and handballs this season.
08:19
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
12:32
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Ben Hobbs)
13:17
Ben Hobbs nails a set shot to give Essendon its biggest lead of the match. The shot came on the back of Hobbs winning a holding-the-ball free kick in the forward 50. Adelaide has been caught holding the ball five times in this match. Essendon has not been caught holding the ball in this match. Essendon has been caught holding the ball just 11 times this season – the fewest in the competition.
16:27
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
18:25
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Jordan Dawson)
18:29
Against the grain, Jordan Dawson kicks a crucial goal for Adelaide to stay within reach of Essendon. Dawson has led from the front tonight after a poor showing last round against Carlton in which he had just 12 disposals - his lowest tally since Round 5, 2018.
20:01
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Chayce Jones)
22:23
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Jordan Dawson)
22:52
In the last five minutes, Adelaide has taken the ball inside four times to produce three goals. In that time Jordan Dawson has had five disposals, two goals and three contested possessions.
25:31
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
26:35
Crows Interchange - Mitchell Hinge off due to the blood rule.
27:10
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
28:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
32:43
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
32:48
The Bombers enter the major break with an inside 50 lead of 32 to 16. They had the biggest lead of the match at 21 but the Crows immediately closed the gap in large part because of Jordan Dawson's efforts. The Bombers have brought lots of pressure in this match to have the territory advantage. They have 13 tackles inside the forward 50 - the AFL average for an entire match is 11.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
06:10
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
07:15
The Bombers have scored 17.8 points per game from forward half stoppages this season – ranked fourth. Tonight they have scored nine points from forward-half stoppages and a further 17 points from forward-half intercepts.
09:02
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
09:41
Since Round 2, Essendon has lost 34% of its defensive one-on-ones – ranked 17th. Tonight it has lost two of its seven one-on-one contests.
11:44
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Jake Soligo)
12:11
With Jake Soligo's goal, Adelaide takes the lead for the first time in this match. In the third term, Adelaide's pressure factor is 215 while Essendon has a pressure factor of just 178. Adelaide leads nine tackles to two.
13:28
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
14:52
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
17:00
Since the 17th minute of the second quarter, the Crows have a kicking efficiency of 63% in the forward half of the ground. Meanwhile, in that same period, the Bombers are using the ball by foot at just 39% efficiency in their forward half. The Crows have been able to turn this into six goals to zero.
18:06
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ned McHenry)
19:38
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
19:59
Adelaide recorded a shot at goal accuracy of 80% last week against Carlton – ranked No.1 for the round. Tonight it has kicked nine goals from its 12 shots.
20:15
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
20:47
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
22:02
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nic Martin)
23:09
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
27:01
Josh Worrell has a career-high 10 spoils. His previous best was seven - set last round against Carlton.
29:18
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
32:07
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
33:07
Jake Soligo stepped up in the third quarter with five clearances. Meanwhile, Adelaide had its transition game in full force kicking two goals from intercepts taken in its defensive 50.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:08
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
03:12
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
03:46
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Darcy Parish)
05:40
Essendon had a kick-to-handball ratio of 2.08 last round, its highest in a game since 2008. Tonight Essendon has a ratio of 1.25, indicating Adelaide's ability to pressure its opponent to use the ball by hand.
07:51
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nick Hind)
09:30
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
10:28
Ben Keays was one of four multiple goalkickers for the Crows last round with three goals, also having three score assists and eight score involvements. Tonight he has two goals and a goal assist.
11:17
Bombers Interchange - Mason Redman off due to an injury.
12:43
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Izak Rankine)
14:25
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
16:38
Centre clearances sit nine apiece for both sides. However, Essendon has taken eight of its centre clearances inside 50 whereas Adelaide has only converted four of its nine centre clearances into the forward 50. Despite this Essendon has eight points from centre bounce and Adelaide has seven.
18:04
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Draper)
19:14
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nic Martin)
23:31
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
23:52
The Crows are averaging 18.6 points in the time-on period of quarters this season – ranked last. They'll be looking to overcome this deficiency with a tight last few minutes remaining.
25:25
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
25:48
Essendon has dominated territory all night. However, 76% of play has been in Adelaide's forward half in the last five minutes.
30:08
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Josh Rachele)
31:07
In the absence of Peter Wright, Kyle Langford and Harrison Jones combined for four goals. They had eight and seven score involvements respectively. They did this on the back of lots of opportunity provided to them - the Bombers won inside 50s 62 to 44.