Sydney have held on for an exhilarating two-point victory over Essendon as legendary ahead Lance Franklin suffered a possible career-ending calf harm.
The Swans stored their finals hope alive and put a significant dent within the Bombers’ personal top-eight aspirations by securing a 3rd straight win at Marvel Stadium on Saturday evening.
Sydney led by as a lot as 37 factors early within the third quarter earlier than the Bombers’ midfield and inside-50 dominance lastly began to impression the scoreboard.
Essendon minimize the result in simply two factors with 5 minutes left however electrical ahead Tom Papley stepped as much as bomb the Swans’ solely aim of the ultimate quarter from 60m out.
Jye Menzie goaled again for the Bombers, but it surely was too late because the ball went again to the center with six seconds to go and the Swans prevailed 15.11 (101) to fifteen.9 (99).
Sydney might end the spherical as excessive as tenth on the ladder after their finals hopes appeared shot solely a month in the past.
But the long-lasting profession of Franklin hangs within the steadiness after he was subbed out of the match halfway by means of the second quarter because of calf “tightness” and changed by midfielder Ryan Clarke.
The 36-year-old minimize a dejected determine sitting on the bench and was strolling with a noticeable limp when he joined his teammates on the three-quarter-time huddle.
It was Sydney’s remaining sport in Melbourne through the home-and-away season and they won’t return this yr until the Swans cost into the finals.
Franklin is predicted to retire at season’s finish, however this week the 36-year-old had reportedly been considering taking part in on subsequent yr for a twentieth AFL marketing campaign.
Sydney have 4 matches to return within the home-and-away season, beginning with subsequent week’s conflict with in-form rivals GWS.
“Really tough to win a game of AFL footy at any time, and we played good footy in spurts, but we weren’t consistent enough across the whole game,” Swans coach John Longmire mentioned.
“But we got the win and that’s always a good thing.”
Sydney may also sweat on the health of co-captain Dane Rampe, who spent the final 20 minutes of the match on the bench with calf tightness.
Franklin has kicked 1066 targets in his profession – the fourth most in VFL/AFL historical past – and is a lock to be inducted as a legend within the Australian Football Hall of Fame after he retires.
But the longer term appears to be like shiny for the Swans post-Franklin with tall ahead Joel Amartey stepping up with 4 targets within the first half as Sydney skipped away to a 19-point lead on the predominant break.
Essendon ahead Kyle Langford continued his sensible season by nailing a career-best six targets however it can come as little comfort to the Bombers who gained the inside-50s 69-47 and their finals hopes may very well be over.
“This season has been a funny one because when you’ve got your personnel…you probably play Sydney six or eight weeks ago and it looks a bit different,” Bombers coach Brad Scott mentioned.
“But we told ourselves that that we want to be more system over personnel but we played a good side tonight.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au