THE Bombers versus the Eagles. Once high flyers both, in 2008, if they have flown at all, Essendon has resembled the Spruce Goose, while the Eagles have soared like emus.

It was Essendon's turn to fly last night, the Dons beating the Eagles by 22 points for their third win of the season. It will put them one place higher on the ladder and sent the fans home happy for once in a so-far forlorn season.

Each side has walked in the other's shoes of recent times, switching from competitive to inept by the week. West Coast defeated Adelaide easily, then was thrashed by Collingwood before pushing Sydney all the way. Essendon was trounced by Richmond, conceding eight goals before scoring any, pushed Adelaide to five points in Adelaide, then faded in the second half against Hawthorn last week.

Last night it was Essendon's turn to shine. It led at every change and won each quarter, although only the last by more than a goal (and that was seven points).

The pleasing thing for Bomber coach Matthew Knights would have been the contribution from young and old, experienced and inexperienced. David Hille was outstanding all night, as was Dustin Fletcher. Matthew Lloyd stood up for his club after several weeks of torrid criticism. But midfielders Brent Stanton and Angus Monfries were great contributors, as was Kyle Reimers.

For the losers, it was probably over when Daniel Kerr could not take his place in the side. Dean Cox won the biggest share of the hit-outs, youngsters Chris Masten and Jamie McNamara (Kerr's replacement) worked tirelessly, and David Wirrpanda provided the one reliable scoring outlet.

Fittingly, it was a soaring mark and goal by Lloyd early in the final quarter that put the Dons 21 points up and irreversibly heading towards victory. See the Bombers fly up: didn't happen last week, might not happen next week, but this night it did.

Essendon had a 15-point lead at three-quarter-time, marginally eking out a half-time break of 11. The Dons kept the overwhelmingly pro-Essendon crowd on edge as they held the ball through the last minute of the term, but it was more a fear of what might have happened than anything that actually did.

Goals to Scott Lucas, Hille and then Monfries had pushed the lead to 23 points, but the Eagles kept nagging away. Wirrpanda got his fourth, Beau Wilkes got one after a clever one-handed mark by Adam Hunter and good shielding of Fletcher from the contest by Mark Seaby. Finally Hunter got one for a free kick against Paddy Ryder.

With a quarter to play, there was still a lot to play for.

Essendon led by 11 points at half-time after a hat-trick of goals finally allowed it to capitalise on some of its edge in general play. Nathan Lovett-Murray, Jay Neagle and Hille all scored without reply from the Eagles as the Dons converted a five-point deficit into a 14-point lead.

Before that, David Wirrpanda with his third goal on as many opponents had booted West Coast clear. Essendon seemed determined to squander opportunities to that stage, having blazed away ineffectually for four goals from 15 scoring shots.

It had been the same in the first quarter, when only two late goals enabled Essendon to snatch the lead after the Eagles had converted four of their first five scoring opportunities.

The Dons had got the last three goals of that quarter, too, Hille booting the one that reclaimed the lead with one second left on the clock. From the bounce for their third goal, Angus Monfries won a free kick in the middle of the ground. He set Dustin Fletcher loose and Fletcher's handball was taken by Hille. With nothing on, the big man ran 15 metres and let fly from close to 60 out on the run. Naturally, after so many easier shots had been sprayed far and wide, this one sailed straight through.

With both sides sitting on two wins — the Eagles 13th on percentage, Essendon 14th — there was as much to play for as most top-of-the-ladder clashes, either a rare win or, if you take the ultra-cynical view, a higher draft pick for the loser at the end of the season.

There was a potentially significant change to both line-ups. Essendon lost Andrew Lovett, robbing it of vital pace and run, and the Eagles lost what was left of its trinity of star premiership midfielders, Daniel Kerr failing to take his place in the side. The two were replaced by Jarrod Atkinson and Jamie McNamara, respectively.

It was a spirited opening, even if its most notable feature was three "clanger" kicks before we saw either side hit a target. The tackling was ferocious and the scores remained close together virtually throughout the first half.

Wirrpanda was troubling Essendon. Adam Ramanauskas conceded two goals to him from penalties, one a direct free kick, the other by conceding a 50-metre penalty, which brought him from just outside the 50-metre arc to point-blank range.

Neagle was good for Essendon early, but Andrew Embley exploited his lack of match fitness by running hard off him.

Embley kicked the Eagles' second goal and should have done better than three behinds from three second-quarter shots.

ESSENDON 4.6 7.11 11.14 16.17 (113)
WEST COAST 4.1 6.6 9.11 13.13 (91)

GOALS Essendon: Hille 3, Lucas 3, Neagle 3, Lloyd 2, Laycock, Lovett-Murray, Monfries, Ramanauskas, Reimers. West Coast: Wirrpanda 4, Hunter 3, LeCras 3, Embley, Staker, Wilkes.

 BEST Essendon: Hille, Fletcher, McVeigh, Watson, Reimers. West Coast: Wirrpanda, McNamara, Masten, Cox, Priddis, Stenglein.

INJURIES Essendon: Lovett (virus) replaced in selected side by Atkinson. West Coast: Kerr (leg) replaced in selected side by McNamara.

UMPIRES Rosebury, Chamberlain, Jeffery.

CROWD 33,386 at Telstra Dome.

THE UPSHOT THE Dons won a double victory last night, notching up their first win since round three and restricting their opponent to less than 100 points for only the third time this year.

TALKING POINT ANYBODY who backed the Eagles last night would have been despondent at the news that midfield force Daniel Kerr was a late scratching. While Andrew Lovett was a late withdrawal for Essendon, it's fair to say Kerr's absence was most keenly felt. Oh, and Matthew Lloyd is back in town.

HOT AND COLD DAVID Hille was dominant, winning the night in the ruck, leading the possession count with Brent Stanton (27) and contributing three goals, including a boomer from the boundary line 60 metres out on the run in the final seconds of the first quarter. Adam Ramanauskas, however, was quiet. He sparked up somewhat in the second half, kicking the opening goal of the final term, but the damage was done in the first half, when he gave away two goals to Wirrpanda due to bad judgement in marking contests.