One-point AFL thriller keeps Bombers’ season alive in Fremantle madness

A Sam Durham behind with 24 seconds remaining has seen Essendon register a thrilling one-point win against Fremantle and pull their season out from the fire in one of the most exciting games of the year at the MCG on Sunday.

The 13.12 (90) to 14.5 (89) result means the Bombers’ finals hopes are alive for another week as they look to end their 20-year wait for a win in the AFL finals.

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When the Bombers slipped 25 points down early in the final quarter, their 2024 campaign appeared to be dead and buried.

But Essendon dug deep and found something miraculous as they erupted with the next five majors, including two from Nic Martin, to lead by seven points at the 19-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

The Bombers finished the game like a freight train and, inspired by Dylan Shiel, they completely turned the tables back their way in the centre clearances.

Essendon coach Brad Scott said pride was the “overwhelming” emotion after the victory.

“I’m just proud of the players’ effort,” Scott said post-game.

“I thought we gave that for the whole game. The game wasn’t necessarily going our way at various stages.

“And Fremantle are going really well. I think they’re a very good side. They’ve got a lot of capability and pose a lot of threats.

“We really felt like (it was) a game of, as it often is in modern footy, momentum and who could get a hold of the momentum.

“But the thing I was probably most pleased with is that we gave good effort, put ourselves in the contest but we found ourselves behind on the scoreboard.

“So the ability to stay focused on what we were doing, and persist right to the last minute or second was the most pleasing part.”

In the first half, the Dockers kicked a goal every second time they went forward, while Essendon did so every fifth time.

But for an incredible 11-minute patch in the final, those woes suddenly evaporated as they played perfect forward-half football.

Fremantle star Hayden Young had the chance to level the scores with 3:50 to go, but his snap shot from 25m out in front was smothered magnificently by Jake Kelly.

With 1:55 to go, Jeremy Sharp ran down the wing and had the chance to kick it to Luke Jackson in a one-on-one with Nik Cox up forward, but the former Sun blazed the kick out on the full.

Essendon defender Jayden Laverde must have thought he cost his team four premiership points when he gave away a needless free kick for high contact against Jye Amiss in the forward line, and the Dockers forward made no mistake from the set shot to level proceedings with 36 seconds left.

But just as the Bombers and Dockers looked on course for their second draw of the season, Essendon captain Zach Merrett got a crucial clearance and found Durham who booted the decisive score from 50m out on the run.

Fremantle’s last roll of the dice via a huge kick down the guys from the kick-in was marked crucially by Bombers ruckman Sam Draper to ensure the Bombers a memorable one-point.

A loss for the Bombers would’ve almost certainly extinguished any hope they had of making the finals.

It was all going so well for the Bombers — in round 12, Essendon were sitting pretty in second on the ladder.

But a stunning collapse of just two wins in nine games has seen the Bombers barely holding onto the edge of the top eight, sitting just two points behind the Bulldogs and Blues in seventh and eight respectively.

Essendon will probably need to win two more matches to qualify for the finals and their run home features games against Gold Coast, Sydney and Brisbane (away).

Meanwhile, Fremantle missed a golden opportunity to shore up their place in the top four.

The Dockers had only lost two of their previous 10 matches heading into Sunday, but they will now drop from third to sixth, and incredibly, they’re only four points inside the top eight with matches against fellow top-four aspirants Geelong, GWS (away) and Port Adelaide to come.

Essendon produced their best pressure since their win over Collingwood a month ago, as they finished the game convincingly winning the tackle count 63-53.