For the first time in 323 days, Essendon fans can belt out the team song.
The Bombers entered Saturday’s contest against Melbourne riding a 17-game losing streak, their equal longest in club history.
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But with history beckoning, the playing group responded as they ran Melbourne off the ground to record a dominant 17.11 (113) to 10.7 (67) victory.
After a hard fought opening half, the Bombers blew the game apart in the second half as they kicked 11 goals to two.
Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon described the result as a “46-point belting” by the Bombers.
Things got off to a rocky start for Essendon as their banner was left in pieces thanks to the wet and windy conditions that have taken over Adelaide throughout Gather Round.
Despite that potentially worrying omen, once the siren sounded the Bombers showed they were a different outfit to the one that fans had seen through the opening four games.
The club played with plenty of dash and dare while also shutting down Melbourne’s quick style of play that had taken them to 3-1 to start the season.
Archie Roberts continued his dominant start to the year as he recorded a career-high 42 disposals along with a goal.
Former captain Zach Merrett was at his best through the middle of the ground, but capped off his day with a freakish goal from the boundary line.
Merrett sharked a ball from deep in the forward pocket before slamming the ball onto his left boot and through the goals.
While it was jubilant scenes for the Bombers, question marks have been raised over the Demons following the lacklustre display.
“For Melbourne it was a stinker … they just had no dash,” Brian Taylor said on Triple M after the final siren.
They won’t face an easy task next weekend when they return to the MCG and take on the Brisbane Lions.
For the Bombers they have an even more daunting task when they venture up to the Gold Coast to take on the Suns on Saturday.
