THE football gods did not favour Essendon last night, and that fact was no better illustrated than in the Bombers' inverted fortunes of well-performing defence and the struggles of their forwards in their 36-point loss to St Kilda at Telstra Dome.

Individually, the Essendon defenders with the toughest assignments acquitted themselves honourably in the first half. It was in the centre of the ground that they were being let down.

Paddy Ryder battled well against Nick Riewoldt, restricting him to one goal and just four marks — all uncontested. Mal Michael and Dustin Fletcher shared the jobs on Justin Koschitzke and Charlie Gardiner admirably, and Bachar Houli ran all over Stephen Milne, keeping him scoreless and, miraculously, kicking two goals and getting 12 touches himself playing from the back pocket.

But those brave efforts did little to stem the flow of bad news coming from the Saints midfield. Going into the long break, the Dons were 44 points down.

The only heart that the Essendon defenders could take was that they had forced their opponents to find their 12 goals through 10 separate contributors.

At the other end, Max Hudghton's hard work on Matthew Lloyd was having all of the desired effects. With excellent support from his teammates, particularly Brendon Goddard and Matt Maguire, Hudghton was able to ensure that Lloyd was never found alone in the attacking 50, and not able to get the better of a contest — which was more often than not a two-on-one — for the whole of the first half.

The only time Lloyd was able to get his hands on the leather was when he pushed further up the ground, in search of the opportunities that eluded him in the area he is most dangerous — the forward 50.

And then in the third term the narrative changed.

Matthew Knights, desperate to swing the momentum the other way, switched Ryder forward to form a quartet of tall options — completed by Lloyd, Adam McPhee and Jason Laycock — while leaving Fletcher to mind Riewoldt.

It would have looked a misguided move, for the Saints' captain got the better of the Bombers' stalwart in that term, gathering seven touches in the term and kicking his second goal.

But the context of that goal gave wisdom to Knights' maneuvering, for it was that major in the late stages of the term that broke a six-goal streak at the other end of the ground, and had brought the Bombers within 17 points of their opponents.

At the other end of the ground, all of the indicators were good for the chasing Dons. Laycock, Ryder and McPhee all kicked goals, but the change had really come where all the true decisions are made — in the midfield, where the Bombers were starting to click and make progress.

In the fourth quarter St Kilda braced, and the story took a more conventional turn.

The Saints wrestled control of the game back, and ran out the game without letting the Bombers spring any more uncomfortable — and unconventional — surprises.