A TOP-EIGHT finish remains on the agenda for Essendon, and all of a sudden seems out of reach for Adelaide, after the Bombers' nine-point win over the Crows on Saturday night.
In a contest seen as likely to either prolong or end the finals hopes of the evenly placed clubs, the Bombers put in one of their better showings of recent times to win 15.11 (101) to 14.8 (92).
It left them equal on points with eighth-placed North Melbourne (who play Melbourne on Sunday), and was extra important given it faces top-four contenders Geelong, Port Adelaide and Collingwood over the next three weeks.
But the Bombers' win wasn't without a scare, after their 36-point lead midway through the third term was cut to nine points in the opening minute of the last quarter.
The Crows' chances looked done when the Travis Colyer snapped the third Bombers goal in succession minutes later to extend their lead back to 27 points, but the Crows kept coming and got back within nine points with less than five minutes remaining.
They continued to trade goals there after, first a Michael Hurley long-bomb and then an Eddie Betts crumb, but Essendon clung on – to the game, and perhaps its season.
Still adjusting to life without captain Jobe Watson as he recovers from hip surgery, it was an even display from the Bombers midfield and an efficient one from their forwards, which earned them the spoils.
Coach Mark Thompson said it was a relief to claim the four points after another stressful week dealing with the fallout from 34 current and former Essendon players being given show-cause notices by ASADA.
"We did (free them up). We didn't put the brakes on them in the second, third and fourth quarters but it just happened that way," he said.
"We were pleased with the victory. It would have been disastrous if we had have lost a game with a big lead two weeks in a row.
"You've just got to have some fun in the week and this is the fun time for them."
His counterpart Brenton Sanderson said the first term avalanche was costly.
"We won three of the four quarters, not the first, but I still felt like Essendon was the better side on the night and I do mean that," Sanderson said.
"We did really focus on the start and we knew that this was a side, obviously with their off-field distractions, we couldn't allow them to get a sniff tonight because we knew that would give them momentum and really get them rolling.
"We spoke about it, it was a huge focus for us to start well, but we lost the first four centre bounces and they kicked goals almost every time they went inside forward 50 in the first quarter."
Still adjusting to life without captain Jobe Watson as he recovers from hip surgery, it was an even display from the Bombers midfield and an efficient one from their forwards, which earned them the spoils.
Dyson Heppell gathered 27 disposals, Brendon Goddard had 32 (16 in a monumental last term) and Jake Melksham returned to form with 24, while Michael Hibberd was typically attacking with 30 touches from half-back and the wing.
Hibberd was kicked in the shin earlier in the game and played through the injury, with Thompson saying he is in doubt for next week's clash with Geelong.
The Bombers had 12 goalkickers – led by Jason Winderlich, Patrick Ryder and Brent Stanton with two each – but this week, unlike most this season, their forwards appeared in sync with play up the ground.
It was a former Essendon key forward, Josh Jenkins, who lifted the Crows into contention with four goals.
The athletic big man combined with a match-conditioned Taylor Walker (17 disposals, two goals) and a strong-marking James Podsiadly (two goals) to drag the Crows back into the contest after a slow start.
Small forward Betts was also important for the Crows, kicking three goals from 21 disposals and always presenting.
Scott Thompson collected 41 disposals and Matthew Wright finished with 26, and while Brodie Smith had 21 disposals, his influence was limited by a tight-checking Heath Hocking.
After its wasteful display against Melbourne last week – and an inability to convert chances to goals for much of the season – ironically it was Essendon's early efficiency that gave it the advantage for much of the night.
At the 22-minute mark of the opening term, after Melksham fended off an opponent and bounced through a goal, the Bombers had seven majors on the board without a blemish.
Against Melbourne, it took them 69 inside-50s to kick 10 goals. By quarter-time against the Crows, they had seven goals from 17 entries; the first time since mid-2012 they had kicked seven in an opening quarter.
Josh Jenkins' four goals wasn't enough to drag the Crows over the line.
ESSENDON 7.0 9.2 11.10 15.11 (101)
ADELAIDE 2.6 5.7 9.7 14.8 (92)
GOALS
Essendon: Stanton 2, Ryder 2, Winderlich 2, Hocking, Ambrose, Goddard, Daniher, Zaharakis, Melksham, Howlett, Colyer, Hurley
Adelaide: Jenkins 4, Betts 3, Walker 2, Podsiadly 2, Dangerfield, Smith, Martin
BEST
Essendon: Hibberd, Goddard, Heppell, Melksham, Hooker, Hocking
Adelaide: Thompson, Jenkins, Wright, Jacobs, Betts, Walker
INJURIES
Essendon: Hibberd (left leg)
Adelaide: Mackay (concussion), Dangerfield (corked quad)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Zach Merrett replaced Tom Bellchambers in the third quarter
Adelaide: Jarryd Lyons replaced David Mackay (concussion) in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Chamberlain, McInerney, O'Gorman
Official crowd: 30,948 at Etihad Stadium
