Essendon have slipped out of the AFL Top 8 following a tight 9 point loss to Sydney at the SCG on Sunday afternoon in AFL Round 11.

In a match where the lead changed 16 times and the margin no larger than the final winning margin all game, it took until the final minute of the game to seal the contest with an Adam Goodes goal to give the Swans a 12.17 (89) to 12.8 (80) victory.

Brent Prismall (26 possessions) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (23) were the best for the Bombers, while Leroy Jetta kicked three goals continuing his good recent run of form.

Under threatening skies, the Swans opened the scoring for the match with a goal to forward Jesse White inside the opening minute before the Bombers began to get on top in general play and midway through the first term hit the lead via a Leroy Jetta goal. The Swans however finsihed the term strong and after White and Nick Smith kicked consecutive goals, the Swans took a seven-point lead into the quarter time break.

The Bombers hit back to begin the second term with Alwyn Davey and Sam Lonergan both booting early majors before the Swans hit back with consecutive goals of their own to regain the lead midway through the term. Scott Gumbleton chipped in with two goals for the term as both sides swapped goals and both went into the half time break locked together that 7.4 (47) a piece.

The expected rain came during the half time break and the match became a slog. The Bombers were down two on the bench following hamstring injuries to ruckman David Hille and forward Angus Monfries. The two sides once again traded goal for goal with Rohan and White both booting their third goals of the game for the Swans with Goodes also getting on the scoreboard as the Swans had 10 scoring shots to 5 to the Bombers during the third term. However the Bombers kicked straighter and after goals during the term to Jetta, Davey, Mark McVeigh and David Zakarakis, the scores where once again level heading into the final quarter.

With the game now a wet weather slog, the scoreboard was not threatened for the first 10 minutes of the final quarter – a behind to Michael Hurley – and 17 minutes before Paul Bevan goaled to put the Swans up by five points. Swan defender Marty Mattner had the chance to extend that to a match high 11 points after a dubious 100 metre penalty but he failed to convert keeping the Bombers alive. Jetta nabbed his third for the day to reduce the margin back to a point with under two minutes to play before Goodes sealed the four points for the home side as time ran out.

“We were a little bit clumsy at times … maybe our intelligence … to choose better options,” Essendon coach Matthew Knights said after the game. “[But] that’s not the reason the Swans won the game. The one area of the game we’ve been very good at all year is contested football, but I thought the Swans really handled us in that area today.”

“The major positive I took out of it is that with 20 men we kept coming … kept coming strong. Up until the last four or five minutes the game was there to be had. Our back six were outstanding considering they didn’t really rotate in the second half. Michael Hurley, Tayte Pears, Mark McVeigh, Heath Hocking … they had really strong games for us.”

The Bombers now sit 9th on the AFL ladder at the midway point of the season with a 5-6 record and face ladder leader and reigning AFL Premier Geelong at Jihad Stadium next Saturday night in AFL Round 12.