YOUNG GUNS STARTING TO FIRE

by Scoop Junior

Despite going down for the 16th time this season, Melbourne again showed plenty of fight despite going down in spirited fashion to a resurgent Essendon side on Saturday. Despite looking down and out at times, and with a number of questionable umpiring decisions going against them, the young Demons fought hard to remain in the game right until the end in what was an encouraging sign for the club. Even more than encouraging was the fact that a youthful side full of players with a mere handful of games under their belts simply refused to give in to an opponent with far more experience in its playing ranks. The young guns are starting to fire.

As has been the case for most of the season, the defence was under the pump from the "get go", with Matthew Lloyd kicking two early goals on first-year player Stefan Martin. Matthew Warnock was switched onto the Essendon spearhead after that and while Lloyd finished with 8, Warnock battled manfully. Considering that two of Lloyd's goals were kicked on Martin, one came from a Colin Sylvia turnover, another from a screamer and another from a fortuitous crumb off a pack, Warnock could count himself unlucky to have conceded so many goals. As it was, Lloyd's contribution was clearly the difference between the two teams and we know that Lloyd will not be at the helm of the Essendon forward line forever.

Colin Garland put in a solid day's work and showed further signs of his increasing confidence in his own ability, while Martin, after a horror start on Lloyd, performed well on Laycock. He completely subdued the Essendon tall and underlined his rapid development this year. Clint Bartram kept Leroy Jetta quiet in a good match up and Matthew Whelan played a handy game, providing experience and stability to a young defence and using the ball well throughout the match. He showed that he still is a valuable member of the backline.

The midfield, despite being seriously depleted in the absence of Brock McLean, Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones, amongst others, performed well. They won the clearances and looked more dangerous out of the middle, thanks largely to the contribution of McDonald, who won nine clearances and battled hard throughout the match, Mark Jamar, who nullified in-form Essendon ruckman David Hille, and Lynden Dunn, who played a great stoppers game on the Bombers' most dangerous clearance midfielder in Jobe Watson.

Simon Buckley provided good dash and used his pace to advantage, but still made too many decisional errors. While his decision making has improved, he must continually fine tune this aspect of his game if he is to succeed at AFL level. Cam Bruce won his fair share of the ball and was a good link up player through the midfield, while rookie Shane Valenti was valuable in close and worked hard for the team.

Melbourne's most dangerous midfielder on the day was youngster Cale Morton. Despite some disposal errors, Morton found plenty of the ball, worked hard into space, linked up play and kicked three valuable goals. His excellent endurance was also on show, with his final quarter, which included two goals, particularly impressive.

Up forward, it was inevitable that Melbourne would struggle to adjust in the absence of the three main marking forwards on their list (the now retired David Neitz and injured pair Russell Robertson and Brad Miller). The Demons struggled to find a system going forward in the first quarter and their forward structure looked a little dishevelled. However, credit must go to the coaching staff for engineering a structure that kicked 17 goals despite the absentees (15 of them scored after quarter time).

Credit must also go to Matthew Bate and Colin Sylvia, who worked extremely hard presenting up the ground and kicked 5 goals between them. Sylvia in particular was impressive and played one of his best games for the club. Still, a number of clangers detracted from his performance. When he hits it well, he is a beautiful long kick of the footy, however, too many times for a player of his class he kicks wobblers and helicopters. Second-gamer Addam Maric showed some encouraging signs. He picked up sixteen possessions, booted two goals and used the ball very neatly. He looks like a good decision maker and will be a more than handy addition to the side. Aaron Davey was quiet save for some flashes of brilliance, while Austin Wonaeamirri was well held and struggled to have an influence on the game.

While the Demons did lose the game, the signs shown by the young team were very encouraging and supporters would have left the MCG satisfied in the knowledge that their team is refusing to give in and that the club is still very much in line for three quality draft selections. The loss, combined with Fremantle's defeat of West Coast, means the Demons have just about sewn up a top two pick in the draft and a priority pick at the end of the first round appears increasingly likely with only four rounds to play. With more quality youth to be added to the side, the Dees can look forward to building a team that can grow and improve and can force its way up the ladder in the years to come.

Melbourne 2.2 .14 7.3.45 11.5.71 17.6.108

Essendon 3.1.19 9.6.60 14.8.92 19.10.124

Goals

Melbourne Morton Sylvia 3 Bate Maric 2 Bartram Buckley Davey Green Jamar P Johnson Wonaeamirri

Essendon Lloyd 8 Monfries 3 Lovett McPhee 2 Atkinson Jetta Reimers Slattery

Best

Melbourne Morton McDonald Sylvia Bate Dunn Jamar

Essendon Lloyd Lovett-Murray McPhee Lovett Peverill Monfries Fletcher

Injuries

Melbourne Davey (heel) Garland (hamstring)

Essendon Reimers (hamstring)

Reports Nil

Changes Nil

Umpires Kennedy Sully Fila

Crowd 46,334 at the MCG