Essendon kept alive their AFL Finals hopes and severely dented 2009 AFL runner-up St. Kilda’s own AFL Premiership ambitions with an upset 12 point victory 14.9 (93) to 11.15 (81) at Jihad Stadium on Sunday evening in their AFL Round 8 clash.

Led by 4 goals from ruckmen David Hille and three from Paddy Ryder, the Bombers had their nose in front for a majority of the game and when Ryder sealed the game with the last goal of the contest with 2 minutes left, the Bombers had registered their third win out of eight for the season and move them within two games of 8th spot on the AFL ladder.

Skipper Jobe Watson finished with 25 touches, while veteran defender Dustin Fletcher, Heath Hocking and Courtenay Dempsey were amongst the Bombers best.

The match opened in quiet fashion with the Saints kicking the opening two goals of the game before Hille got the Bombers opening goal of the game late in the first term to reduce the Saints lead to five points at the first break.

In a more entertaining second term, the Saints skipped out to a 13 point lead midway through the second quarter after a goal to ruckman Michael Gardiner. But the Bombers responded a ‘coast-to-coast’ goal when Fletcher’s long kick-in was mopped up by Scott Gumbleton. The ball was then relayed to the Jarrod Atkinson who finished off the play. After which Leroy Jetta added a soccer-style goal and David Zaharakis gave the Bombers a two point half-time lead after being on the end of a chain of handballs.

The Bombers then opened up the game to start the second half with Hille chipping in with two goals as the Bombers had a run of three straight goals. The lead however was whittled down to 13 points at the last break.

Saints ruckman Michael Gardiner brought his team back into the contest in the final term. He pushed forward and booted two of his team’s opening three goals for the term to close the gap to two points. Ryder then stepped into the limelight snapping two vital goals to steady his side, the second of which proved to be that match sealer.

Essendon’s win improved their win-loss record to 3-5 this season and 12th place on the AFL ladder and leaves the Saints with a 5-3 record – as many losses they had for the entire 2009 AFL season.

“The one thing I mentioned to the group after the game was that I was really pleased the senior players led the way and embraced the young guys in the team,” Bomber coach Matthew Knights said after the game.

“We had a midfield today of David Myers, Travis Colyer, Jake Melksham and Ben Howlett going against the St Kilda midfield. I guess Watson, Prismall and Stanton played a great role in supporting them through the day and the same with our young defenders and Fletch down there.”

Next up for the Bombers is a winnable, but also equally loseable match against Richmond at the MCG next Saturday night in AFL Round 9.