THE SLIGHTEST whiff of finals continues to linger at Windy Hill, with Essendon and captain Matthew Lloyd emphasising the club's convincing form with a 16-point win over Melbourne on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.
The Bombers have now won six of their last seven matches, with the latest triumph – 19.10 (124) to 17.6 (108) – bringing them to eight wins for the season and well in the hunt to enter the top half by season's end.
Meanwhile, the bottom-placed Demons – who were far from disgraced – remain likely to take the wooden spoon.
In the third annual Clash for Cancer match, the Bombers – sporting yellow bands on their guernseys – were led by Lloyd, who kicked eight goals for the first time since round one, 2006 and went above and beyond in the absence of fellow forward Scott Lucas.
He also moved to No. 8 on the all-time goalkickers list, passing former Collingwood great Peter McKenna with his third.
Damien Peverill (30 disposals) had a terrific final quarter for Essendon with nine clearances, while Nathan Lovett-Murray and Jay Nash also saw plenty of it with 51 touches between them.
For Melbourne, young gun Cale Morton was terrific with 26 possessions and three goals, while James McDonald had nine clearances and Matthew Bate collected 23 disposals.
Essendon shot out of the blocks and had two goals on the board in the opening four minutes – both from its skipper.
Lloyd soon had a second opponent in Matthew Warnock, with Stefan Martin going to Adam McPhee.
And, unfortunately for Martin, the Bombers' third goal came from his new task at the 12-minute mark.
That was bookended by Addam Maric and Clint Bartram, as Melbourne overcame a sluggish start and Essendon led by five points at the first change.
Demon Cameron Bruce returned from an early ankle complaint for the second term, but Essendon drew first blood again with Lloyd booting his third two minutes in.
The Demons responded with Morton making amends for his earlier shank, and then goals from Colin Sylvia and Simon Buckley saw them steal the lead – until Essendon wrenched back advantage through Andrew Lovett.
Melbourne levelled proceedings again, but Essendon kept coming. With the exception of a goal from Aaron Davey at the 27-minute mark, the Bombers booted the final three of the term to take a 15-point lead into the second half.
The Dees won the first two clearances of the third and kicked the first two goals, but Lloyd soon replied.
But Sylvia stood up minutes later to boot his third and the lead was again theirs.
Essendon then found a game-breaking run that saw goals from Jarrod Atkinson, Angus Monfries, Kyle Reimers, and Lloyd – who soared over a pack for a certain mark of the year contender before converting his sixth.
The difference at the final change was 21 points, and a goal to Henry Slattery in the opening minute had the Bombers' lead out to a game-high 27.
In a see-sawing final stanza, Lloyd added another two to his tally and gave his side the buffer needed to hold off the Demons' final challenges that saw them get within two kicks on two occasions.
The Bombers travel west to meet the Eagles next Sunday while the Demons will host the ladder-leading Cats on Friday night at the MCG.
Essendon 3.1 9.6 14.8 19.10 (124)
Melbourne 2.2 7.3 11.5 17.6 (108)
GOALS
Essendon: Lloyd 8, Monfries 3, McPhee 2, Lovett 2, Atkinson, Reimers, Slattery, Jetta
Melbourne: Morton 3, Sylvia 3, Maric 2, Bate 2, Bartram, Green, Buckley, Davey, P. Johnson, Jamar, Wonaeamirri
BEST
Essendon: Lloyd, Hille, Monfries, Fletcher, McPhee, Peverill, Lovett-Murray, Nash
Melbourne: McDonald, Sylvia, Morton, Garland, C. Johnson, Bate, Bruce
INJURIES
Essendon: Reimers (hamstring)
Melbourne: Garland (hamstring), Davey (ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Kennedy, Sully, Fila
Official crowd: 46,334 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.