Blog log from R4 of 2024: Port Adelaide vs Essendon

Draper bounces a handball to Gresham in the pocket 20m out, his kind of area and the ex-Saint snaps the first goal of the night. (Q1 1:21)
Rioli roves at half forward at the front of the pack, his man McGrath nowhere to be seen as he saunters clear and bounces through the goal from 50m. (Q1 3:33)
Rozee smothers Parish at half forward, gathers and has a look then goes himself with a checkside from 45m on a slight angle, Marshall shepherds it through. (Q1 6:33)
Harrison Jones comes out of the square to gather the loose footy and give to Gresham in the other pocket 20m out, his drop punt is a pearler for goal number two! (Q1 13:03)
Gresham roves in the pocket but Ratugolea catches him HTB from behind to prevent a third goal! (Q1 14:33)
Kelly marks in front of Boak 40m out on a slight angle, he gives off to Stringer who snaps the goal! (Q1 18:40)
Georgiades marks just inside 50m on a slight angle and gets mobbed by teammates after kicking his first goal after almost a year out of the senior side. (Q1 20:28)
Soldo catches the ball out of ruck at the next bounce and releases Rozee to sprint away and go long, Dixon marks over McKay near the behind post but shanks for no score. (Q1 22:04)
Burton kicks high inside 50 from a pack on members wing, Marshall reacts before Laverde to mark on his chest 40m out on the flank, his set shot swerves through. (Q1 23:34)
Gresham earns a free on Farrell in a pack 50m out on a slight angle but hooks it left and OOTF. (Q1 25:19)
Perkins snaps high from a stoppage 40m out on a slight angle, touched off the boot and flies wide right anyway. (Q1 27:20)
Draper volleys a crumb into the left goalpost from a pack 20m out. (Q1 31:34)
Merrett roves a Stringer contest and snaps on the turn from 30m on a slight angle off the left, curls it too far. (Q1 32:38)
Finlayson marks a short Marshall pass 45m out on the flank but doesn’t score just before the QT siren. (Q1 33:34)
Byrne-Jones sails through the opening goal of Q2 less than a minute in, receiving from Mead outside a stoppage on the HFF to shoot in the clear from 45m. (Q2 1:36)
Menzie marks 30m out on the flank but tugs the set shot left into the post. (Q2 4:03)
After a Butters kick clanger, Martin shows him how it’s done with a pass through traffic to Perkins at the hotspot for a turnover goal. (Q2 6:17)
Rozee runs free over the paint of 50 and slots a goal on the run from 45 after a give wide from McEntee. (Q2 7:33)
Aliir starts a rebound from half back that goes up the guts, FInlayson is favoured by a nice bounce from a Houston kick to the teeth of goal, he soccers it through under pressure. (Q2 13:07)
Port handballs around the arc, eventually Burton spots up Georgiades 35m out in front who hoofs it into the right goalpost. (Q2 16:44)
Horne-Francis kicks to grass in the pocket for Rozee to run onto, he taps it forward with Martin on his hammer, Martin is pinged for a hold 40m out. Rozee misses. (Q2 20:37)
Rioli roves at the top of the square and gets tackled by Kelly, he snaps on the spin from 15m, a review shows it just avoided the inside of the near right goalpost. (Q2 26:20)
Rozee roves at half forward after the next bounce, has a moment to balance himself for a snap across the body from 45m in front and sails through goal number three! What a star! (Q2 27:36)
Three Bombers look at each other as a chaos ball bounces in the middle of them at half back, Soldo taps to Finlayson who snaps another red time goal from 30m, Port on FIYAH! (Q2 29:38)
Finlayson marks a Horne-Francis pass on the boundary 30m out, the double hyphen play ends with a miss off the left. (Q3 1:43)
Houston sends a repeat inside 50 kick to a pack at the hotspot, Soldo roves and goals. Essendon staring at a big loss in Gather Round. (Q3 6:35)
Butters roves in the pocket and tries a checkside off a step from 20m, that one goes narrow to the right. (Q3 14:04)
Rioli snaps on the turn off the right for a junk time goal from 20m in the pocket. (Q3 15:42)
Gresham sails through his third goal from half forward, the first for Essendon for more than a quarter. (Q3 17:06)
Finlayson roves his own contest for some more garbage from the top of the square. (Q3 18:20)
Georgiades marks behind a pack 30m out on the flank and misses to the left. (Q3 23:00)
Burgoyne roves and blazes wide with a checkside from 30m on the flank. (Q3 24:10)
Harrison Jones fades a set shot from the boundary 40m out left to right and straight through in impressive fashion. (Q3 25:38)
Aliir roves at half back but is caught HTB by Hind 45m out on a slight angle, who misses. (Q3 27:21)
Rioli centres from the HFF to McEntee on his own 40m out in the corridor for the first garbage time goal of Q4, which will be exclusively filled with them. (Q4 2:12)
After another Houston intercept in midfield, Butters pokes a pass down the flank for Byrne-Jones 25m out who goals. (Q4 7:45)
Hind marks over Ratugolea and runs clear down the flank to 30m, decides to try a pass to Langford but kicks over his head and OOTF. Pretty abject play for Essendon. (Q4 11:44)
Dixon marks a Horne-Francis kick in front of McKay 45m out on a slight angle but tugs it left. (Q4 13:12)
Butters roves 15m out and feeds Byrne-Jones for his third goal. (Q4 13:59)
Horne-Francis passes short to Georgiades 40m out in front for some more champagne. (Q4 17:12)
Rozee misses on the run from the HFF. (Q4 18:38)