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Bombers embarrassed by Bulldogs AFL blitz

3 minute read

The Western Bulldogs have given their AFL finals chances a huge boost, smashing Essendon by 104 points at Marvel Stadium.

Bulldogs coach LUKE BEVERIDGE
Bulldogs coach LUKE BEVERIDGE Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Essendon's AFL premiership campaign is in tatters after the Western Bulldogs embarrassed the Bombers, who capitulated in a stunning 104-point demolition at Marvel Stadium.

The ballistic Bulldogs smashed their opponents in a midfield masterclass on Saturday night that saw them boot 21 goals in a row in a 21.11 (137) to 4.9 (33) thumping that gives their finals hopes a huge boost.

"I don't think we've ever beaten anyone by a 100 points since I've coached the boys so it's quite satisfying," coach Luke Beveridge said.

"We let a few (goals) through late but other than that it was pretty impressive.

"It was a big night with a lot on the line, let's face it.

"We'd love to get there (to finals) and we know we've got to win all three (games) ... it was a tremendous performance by the boys."

The Dogs improved to a 10-10 record with the win and picked up six percentage points, while Essendon slipped to 11-9 in front of their home crowd of 41,806 fans.

Josh Dunkley and Jack Macrae led the charge with 39 and 38 possessions respectively, while Marcus Bontempelli was typically classy with 26 touches.

The rampant Dogs had 11 goal kickers in the mauling, Toby McLean, Bailey Dale, Josh Schache and Tory Dickson each booting three majors.

But as awesome as Beveridge's men were, John Worsfold's side, albeit injury-depleted, gave little resistance in an insipid display.

Zach Merrett started slowly but finished with 33 disposals, but the story was really the low numbers, with stars Jake Stringer (seven disposals) and Orazio Fantasia (eight) having little impact.

The pressure on Worsfold that eased with a five-game winning run will return in spades following the lacklustre, at-times disinterested, performance.

"Obviously it was very frustrating and very disappointing," Worsfold said.

"It's hard to explain other than that's not who we are - we understand that we're not that far behind the Bulldogs.

"But we were tonight so we have to wear that, be disappointed by it, but not mope around because we've got work to do."

Essendon actually started brilliantly, Dylan Shiel slotting the opening goal with just 23 seconds on the clock, but the Dogs were largely unstoppable from that point on.

Dunkley had 16 possessions and a goal by the first break as the Dogs leapt out to a 32-point lead.

That margin blew out to 54 points at halftime as the Bulldogs piled on seven unanswered goals.

A bad night got worse for the Bombers after the break, with horrendous turnovers gifting the Dogs the first two majors of the second half, with the margin 89 points at three-quarter time as their scoring drought continued.

The Bulldogs cheer squad wryly applauded Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti's goal with just over four minutes remaining in his side's nightmare, the Bombers kicking the last three goals of the contest.

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