Essendon beat Adelaide by three points as Sam Draper non-call by umpire enrages Crows

We’re having a good run for close games, aren’t we? Last Saturday was an overload of thrillers, and now we’ve had some Friday night fun as well.

Make sure you join us tomorrow to see where round six goes next. Hope to see you then!

The Crows coach has expressed his disappointment about Adelaide’s slow start, poor work at the contest in the first half and overall poor performance.

He admits they would have “stolen one” had they managed to win tonight.

But he plays a perfectly straight bat to questions about the late holding the ball non-call.

“I’m not going to make a comment around umpiring. That would just add to the mire.”

Keep in mind he’s chatting to Brian Taylor in the rooms for Seven, so it’s probably a slightly more lighthearted interview than others.

“I think that I got pushed or my legs gave way, either way I’m not sure. What else can I do? It makes up for the one at half-time they gave the Crows.”

I reckon Sam Draper knows he got away with one there. I don’t reckon Sam Draper cares.

The last play of the game – literally in the final five seconds – was Sam Draper laying on his stomach with the ball trapped underneath him. The Crows players pleaded for holding the ball, and perhaps in another moment of the game they would have got the call.

As soon as the whistle blew for a ball up, the siren sounded. Taylor Walker led the Adelaide appeals to the umpire, but it’s all for naught now. Essendon win by three points.

How do you wrap that game up? The right team won the game, as Essendon were the better side on the night. However. In my opinion Adelaide should have had a shot after the siren to win it, as Draper should have been penalised for holding the ball in those final stages.

All the talk this week will be about that final decision, but there was more interesting stuff to discuss. Adelaide weren’t very good tonight but still nearly pinched it. Essendon played good footy but were awful going forward and nearly chucked it away. The Bombers are now 4-2, and yet they’re still a tough team to read.

Oooof, that would have been something! Thirty seconds to play, the Crows have to turn it over and go forward again.

Stoppage right at the top of Adelaide’s goalsquare. Can they manufacture something? Bombers have EVERYONE back now.

Stoppage inside Adelaide’s attacking 50. They need a goal.

Crows coming home strongest, but trail by four points. There is space behind for Essendon, who are one counter-attack away from victory.

But Adelaide are still coming!

Jordan Dawson’s kick couldn’t have been better, but somehow Rachele managed to spill it.

Rachele is having a weird season. For such a talented player, there have been a lot of moments like that. There are five minutes on the clock for him to redeem himself.

Sensational finish from Martin to give Essendon a six-point lead.

He got the hands running past after Goldstein marked just outside the 50, and nobody was picking Martin up. He streamed to the arc and banged home a big Bombers goal.

With nine minutes to play, we are all square.

We got to that point thanks to Sam Draper shanking one from directly in front, somehow missing the chane to give Essendon the lead.

It’s been that sort of night for the Bombers, but they may yet get away with it.

Merrett is doing all he can to lift his team, including a crumbing, snapping goal from 20 out to bring the margin back to a point.

He’s been tremendous tonight and all season. A real captain’s goal.

The most dangerous man on the field has made the Bombers pay!

Rankine exploded onto the loose ball, and in only a tiny pocket of space threw the ball onto his right boot. He had to hold his breath as the ball bounced towards the post (and again during the score review, but let’s not talk about that), but it snuck through.

Seven point Adelaide lead.

There’s that first goal! It’s come courtesy of a free kick, conceded by Jake Kelly and gratefully claimed by Keays directly in front, 20 metres out.

The Bombers have made so many little errors like that tonight, and so many of them have cost them dearly.

The last quarter has begun much like the third. It’s an arm wrestle, with the premium put on the first goal so high.

Essendon’s lead is out to four points, and they have looked the most likely to find that goal. But the Crows have something about them when they start whipping the handballs around. It’s right up for grabs.

What an odd quarter.

I absolutely would not have guess at the start of it that an Essendon lead at 3QT would come as a surprise, but here we are. Adelaide opened the game up for a five-minute stretch in that quarter and got out to a three-goal lead. For all money it looked like the Crows were ready to use that momentum and take charge.

But the underlying numbers of the game hadn’t really changed, aside from Essendon’s tackling dropping off slightly. The Bombers kept on winning the hard balls and kept on getting the ball forward, eventually finding some goals to go with the hard work.

Who knows what happens next? It could be tight right to the siren, or either side could run out to a four-goal win. A true ‘who can say?’ situation out there right now.

Langford was caught high while taking a shot on goal, which fell well short of the line, so got a second chance to put the Dons in front.

He made no mistake with the set shot. The siren is just a couple of seconds away.

Right, so a game has broken out at Adelaide Oval.

Essendon get repeat entries again and force the ball to ground in the goalsquare, where weight of numbers wins out.

Clearance battle never been more important than it is now. Both defences are creaking.