Match

Essendon vs Adelaide Crows

Commentary / 19 Jul 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Essendon has won its last seven matches against Adelaide by an average margin of 18 points dating back to Round 1, 2018.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:21
The centre bounce midfield combination of Zach Merrett, Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer wins the first centre clearance of the match. This has been Essendon's fifth most used combination this season, which has won 41.4% of centre clearances, but has also lost just as many.
00:43
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
01:30
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Harrison Jones)
02:00
The first goal of the match goes to the Bombers through an attacking midfield chain. Over the last three weeks, this zone has only generated 16 points per match - ranked 16th in this time.
03:04
Crows Interchange - Brodie Smith off due to an injury.
03:21
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
06:13
Harrison Jones slots his second of the match. All of Essendon's four scores have been generated from their forward half - last week only seven of their scores were launched from this zone.
07:33
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Lachlan Murphy)
08:29
Crows Interchange - Nick Murray off due to an injury.
08:43
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nik Cox)
08:53
Essendon has already taken three forward 50 marks, resulting in 2.1 (13) on the scoreboard. Since Round 15, the Crows have conceded 9.7 marks per game in their defensive 50 – ranked No.1 defensively.
12:08
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Jake Soligo)
12:34
Adelaide has been unable to control the ball in their forward half, only having 10 disposals in this zone in comparison to Essendon's 23. They trail the inside 50 count by three and rank 11th for inside 50 differential. In comparison, the Bombers rank 4th for inside 50 differential, averaging 5.7 more than their opponent.
13:08
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
13:12
Josh Rachele slots through Adelaide's first goal of the match, with this goal being launched from the attacking midfield zone. This has not been a fruitful generator of scores for the Crows this season, only generating 20.7 points on average - ranked 15th.
16:47
The Bombers launched an inside 50 from just 3% of their defensive 50 chains last round – their second-lowest percentage on record. Tonight they have launched three inside 50s and have launched a goal from five defensive 50 chains.
17:45
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
22:19
Both teams have been able to rebound their defensive 50s eight times, with the Crows finding an uncontested possession upon their rebounds on one more occasion. The Crows have normally been poor at this, ranking 16th for this measure this season.
25:45
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)
26:01
Four of Adelaide's five scores have been from turnover so far. The Crows outscore their opponents by four points from this source on average - ranking them 6th for turnover score differential.
28:52
The Crows have been stronger in the contest, winning the groundball gets count nine, but they haven't been able to effectively get the ball to the outside as they trail the uncontested possession ledger by nine.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:17
Sam Durham has been phenomenal to start, collecting 13 disposals, 227 metres gained and three clearances.
01:08
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Billy Dowling)
01:18
Billy Dowling strikes long for his first of the game. He won 10 of his 20 disposals in the final term last round – finishing with five tackles and one goal across the match.
02:14
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Durham)
02:33
An instant response from Sam Durham gets the Bombers a goal from a centre bounce. In the last six weeks, Essendon has scored the sixth most points from centre clearances.
04:26
Nick Murray has been subbed off early with what appears to be a knee injury. He had a career-high 15 spoils last week against St Kilda – ranked No.1 in the AFL for the round.
05:58
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
06:28
The pressure hasn't been very prevalent in this match-up, with the game pressure factor being 172 (the AFL average is 182). The Crows recorded a round and season-high pressure factor of 217 last week – their equal second-highest over the last 10 years.
08:41
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Zac Taylor)
08:53
Zac Taylor kicks the first goal of his career, after laying the first forward 50 tackle of any player tonight. The Crows have laid the sixth most forward 50 tackles in the last three weeks, averaging 11.7 in this time.
10:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
10:53
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
11:03
Adelaide goes coast to coast with a goal from a kick-in. The Crows have scored the fifth most scores launched from kick-ins this season.
13:03
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
14:00
Ben Keays poaches on an Essendon mistake to kick his first of the game. He has been in some form over the last three weeks, averaging 20 disposals, kicking seven goals and laying 18 tackles in this time.
16:40
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
17:12
Ben Keays capitalises on another forward 50 intercept, making it Adelaide's third goal from forward 50 intercepts for the quarter. The Crows average just six points from forward 50 intercepts this season - ranked 15th.
21:19
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)
21:29
The Crows have kicked five goals in a row. In a similar fashion to the first term, the Bombers were busy in the opening minutes of the term, kicking two goals within the first six minutes but have only scored two behinds since then.
22:28
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Lachlan Murphy)
23:27
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
24:39
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
25:54
Since the eighth minute of this quarter, the Crows lead the inside 50 count 10-4 and have scored a goal from 80% of their entries. They have now scored 8.1 (49) compared to 0.2 (2) from the Bombers in this time period.
28:52
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jake Stringer)
29:04
Against the run of play, the Bombers finally break a string of eight goals from the Crows. All of Essendon's goals this term have come from more than 40 metres out from goal. The Bombers rank 15th for shot accuracy from 41-50 metres out from goal but rank first for shot accuracy from more than 50 metres out this season.
31:48
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Mason Redman)
33:08
The Bombers have been restricted to just 33 uncontested marks so far. Essendon has won just one of its five games where it has taken less than 80 uncontested marks which was against the Crows in Round 6.
33:45
Crows Interchange - Jordan Dawson off due to an injury.
33:56
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
35:27
A nine-goal blitz from the Crows gives them a 23-point lead going into the main break. Adelaide was able to score a goal from 60% of their inside 50s for the quarter - the equal-seventh most by a team this season.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:00
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Reilly O'Brien)
01:18
Reilly O'Brien has been slightly on top in the ruck contest against Sam Draper, leading the hitouts 16-9 and hitouts-to-advantage 4-3, although, Essendon are leading the clearances by two and have scored one more goal when these two have been rucking opponents.
02:40
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
04:19
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Ben Keays)
04:38
From their eight games where they have been trailing at halftime, the Bombers have been able to come back and win three. On the flipside, the Crows have won five of their eight games when they have been leading at the main break.
05:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
06:59
The last four goals of the game have gone the way of the Bombers as they cull the margin down to 12 points. They have been lethal with their turnovers this term, gaining 67 metres on average compared to Adelaide's 11 metres on average early in the piece.
08:16
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
08:34
Crows Interchange - Jordon Butts and is possibly out for the game.
08:55
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
10:01
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nate Caddy)
10:59
The Bombers trail by just one goal after kicking the last five of the match. These goals have come from a spread of sources, generating goals from all zones and besides their forward 50.
11:37
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Brayden Cook)
12:51
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Kyle Langford)
13:39
The Bombers have been extremely accurate from set shots tonight, with their last seven scoring shots from this source resulting in 7.1 (37). They have registered the fourth-best set shot accuracy over the last four weeks.
15:24
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nik Cox)
15:59
The Bombers regain the lead for the first time since the 10-minute mark of the second term. They have scored a goal from five of their 10 entries this term. The Crows have had four entries this quarter, but have all resulted in behinds.
17:35
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
19:28
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
20:58
Rory Laird averages 30 disposals against Essendon from 12 games – his most against any opponent. He has already collected a game-high 23 disposals, seven tackles and five clearances tonight.
21:33
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
21:44
The Crows kick back-to-back goals to lead by eight points in a game that has seen six lead changes already. Ben Keays has kicked an equal career-high four goals.
23:54
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Sam Draper)
24:09
Sam Draper kicks his fourth goal of the season. Before tonight, Adelaide had conceded just three goals to ruckmen this year – the fewest of any team.
26:53
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Nik Cox)
27:30
Ben McKay launches the goal with his 12th intercept possession tonight to claw back the lead. He won a career-high 17 intercept possessions last week against the Demons – the equal-most ever for Essendon.
28:13
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jye Caldwell)
32:37
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
33:40
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
34:23
The Bombers got the third quarter on their terms, having 61% of the term being spent in their forward half, having seven more inside 50s and scoring a goal from 25% more of their entries compared to Adelaide.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:09
The Bombers could only manage 37 points to three- quarter time last round against Melbourne – its fewest this season. They have fired away with 98 points in this same time period this week.
01:00
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Sam Draper)
01:09
Kyle Langford has been targeted a game-high eight times inside 50, taking four forward 50 marks and scoring 2.1 (13) on the scoreboard. He has been the eighth most-targeted player inside 50 this season across the league and has the third-best retention rate out of the top-10 most-targeted players inside 50.
05:03
Bombers Interchange - Jye Caldwell off due to an injury.
05:49
Crows Interchange - Jordan Dawson and is possibly out for the game.
06:48
When the ball has cleared the stoppage area, Essendon has been far stronger in the contest, winning the post-clearance contested possessions by 19. This currently sits inside the 20 biggest differentials for this measure in a game this season.
06:49
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
07:53
Bombers Interchange - Jade Gresham off due to an injury.
09:18
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Zach Merrett)
10:16
Jye Caldwell is subbed out of the match. He had been influential in the match, collecting 20 disposals, of which 10 were won in a contested manner, 90% disposal efficiency and a goal.
10:47
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Josh Rachele)
11:57
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
15:49
The Bombers have had seven more repeat inside 50s in comparison to the Crows, yet have only scored one more point from repeat entries.
16:23
Bombers Interchange - Matt Guelfi off due to an injury.
17:20
Essendon has had an equal-season high 11 individual goal scorers tonight.
18:23
SCORE GOAL - Bombers (Jade Gresham)
19:45
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
21:16
The Crows have only laid 54 tackles tonight. They laid 109 tackles last week against St Kilda – their second-most on record.
23:28
At stoppages this term, the Bombers have been able to get on top having four more clearances. Since Round 9, they have lost the clearance count by 4.3 on average - ranked 16th in this period.
25:03
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
25:26
It has been a virtuoso performance from Ben Keays tonight, kicking a career-high five goals, collecting 20 disposals (85% efficiency), 10 contested possessions, 11 score involvements and 511 metres gained.
26:27
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)
28:18
Since Round 10, the Crows have only been able to score 6.4 points on average after the 20-minute mark in last quarters - ranked 13th. They will need to give it their all to fight back to claw a win after a bitter ending the last time they faced the Bombers.
29:30
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
30:44
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
30:57
Since Round 12, Essendon has conceded 58.3 points per game from intercept possessions – ranked 17th. They have conceded 47 points from this source tonight.
31:32
SCORE BEHIND - Bombers (Rushed)
32:20
A dramatic ending sees Josh Rachele clutch up with the match-winning goal to seal a two-point Adelaide victory. They were lethal in their front half, with 78 of their points coming from forward half chains. Ben Keays was the key to their victory tonight, kicking a career-high five goals. Stoppages were a fruitful source of scores tonight for the Crows, as they were able to score 62 points from this source.
32:21
The Bombers had great connection going inside 50 tonight, taking 15 forward 50 marks and retaining their entries 16% better than Adelaide. They were super accurate in front of goal from set shots, scoring 11.3 (69) from this source tonight. Kyle Langford was instrumental, collecting 22 disposals, 12 marks, nine score involvements and two goals.