Essendon’s night of celebration honouring the 250th AFL game of former skipper James Hird and the return to AFL football after two years of cancer survivor Adam Ramanauskas turned into a night of disaster as injuries, reports and a 50 point thrashing at the hands of AFL ladder leader Geelong was the end result.

For three quarters the Bombers kept in touch with the high-flying Cats, before a seven goal to one final term blew the margin out and chopped 4% off the Bombers ladder percentage.

The Bombers ended the match with no interchange bench as injured ravaged the side with Hird hobbing off during the 2nd term with a calf injury than will see him miss a month and end a forgettable 250th game. Alwyn Davey’s debut AFL season is all but over after he suffered a broken arm also during the second term and youngsters Patrick Ryder (ankle) and Tom Hislop (knee) also finished the game on the bench and both likely to miss one to two weeks.

To compound the problems, Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh both were reported for striking incidents and look set to feel the wrath of the AFL Match Review Panel come Monday, meaning a decimated Bomber line-up will take to the field next week against the newly rejuvenated Western Bulldogs in AFL Round 15.

Without suspended full-forward Matthew Lloyd, the Bombers started the match with a makeshift forward setup with Andrew Welsh in the key forward slot, and to coach Kevin Sheedy’s credit his tactic worked with Welsh booting two goals for the opening term and unlucky not to have a third. Davey and Andrew Lovett also combined for an undersized Bomber forward line which was only down by 5 points at the opening break.

The Cats extended their lead by one to have a six point at half-time, on the back of two goals in the last couple of minutes of the first half.

Two kick-in errors by Fletcher contributed to the unfortunate end of a half, including the Cats last goal where the ball went out of bounds from Fletcher’s kick-in without being touched. Cat forward Steve Johnson passed to Gary Ablett, and his goal was the difference on the scoreboard.

Scott Lucas kicked two goals for the term and first gamer Tom Hislop registered his first career goal in AFL football with his second kick, in the term highlighted by the injuries to Hird and Davey.

Even without Hird and Davey, the Bombers had a revival during the third term to take the lead midway through the quarter.

Jobe Watson provided the spark setting up Andrew Lovett for a goal and later setup Adam Ramanauskas for a goal which sparked ‘emotional scenes’. Lucas goaled from a free kick against Matthew Scarlett via the dubious hands in back rule and the Dons had taken the lead. But from that point of it would be all Geelong ….

Paul Chapman got a steadier for the Cats and they regained the lead when rookie forward Tom Hawkins goaled. Cameron Moon then out marked Dustin Fletcher in the goal square to give the Cats a 10 point lead at the final change.

With four on the bench the Bombers than simply ran out of legs as the Cats ran rampant in the final term to register their ninth win in a row and take a two game break at the top of the AFL ladder.

Jobe Watson, Jason Johnson, Damien Peverill and Mark McVeigh were amongst the Bombers best on a very forgettable night.

“We played terrific footy for about 100 minutes, and we didn’t really play smart footy for the last 20,” Sheedy said after the game.

The Bombers now teeter on the edge of the AFL Top 8 and with a tough next month, could find themselves in all sorts of trouble if the losses start to mount.