GWS was steamrolled by a fourth-quarter Essendon avalanche on Saturday which condemned the Giants to a fourth-straight loss and left their season hanging by a thread.
The final margin was 35 after GWS had scrapped their way through the third term and reduced the margin to five points at the final break before Essendon exploded, kicking four goals in a nine-minute period to end the Giants' charge and keep the heartbeat flickering on their own season.
They finished with six majors to win in the final term in what had to that point been a dour, low-scoring struggle.
Embracing victory: Orazio Fantasia and Devon Smith.
Photo: AAP
An Adam Tomlinson brain snap early in the fourth term proved the catalyst for Essendon, the Giants defender giving former teammate James Stewart a hearty shove after the latter had marked on the boundary line about 50m from goal.
Stewart was invited to advance his cause 50m, and made no mistake from the goal square to kick start his side's match-winning run.
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Shaun McKernan converted a set shot soon after from 35m out, before David Zaharakis came tearing through the centre of the ground and nailed one from the arc.
Devon Smith, who spent the night engaging in verbal and physical stoushes with several of his former teammates, then snapped it around his body to Mark Baguley who nailed his third to effectively end the contest.
Bomber Devon Smith celebrates a goal.
Photo: AAP
Not since 2014, the Giants' third year in the AFL, has this club dropped four matches in a row.
And they must now pull themselves together for a road trip to Adelaide next Sunday to play the Crows, one of the toughest away days on the calendar.
Essendon built this fine win at Spotless Stadium in front of 10,789 fans on the back of their relentless tackling pressure.
The numbers at full-time were telling – Essendon had 85 tackles to the Giants' 57, and it meant the visitors carved out more space across the ground time and again.
Dyson Heppell was superb in the middle with 12 clearances, Zaharakis' ball use was telling throughout while Smith and Zach Merrett tackled themselves to a standstill.
Jake Stringer cashed in too, helping himself to a pair of last-quarter goals to give him three for the night.
This was meant to be the line in the sand moment for GWS, where indifferent early-season form was replaced by football worthy of preseason predictions suggesting they would again finish in the top four.
Josh Kelly was back from a groin injury, Jonathon Patton returned after a fortnight in reserve grade and Matt Buntine played his first AFL match since round two last season.
All three contributed in moments throughout, but as a collective the Giants simply failed to produce enough to worry the Bombers.
Too often they bombed it long into the 50, or their entries were from out wide, and the Bombers were able to repel.
Coach Leon Cameron would have been baffled by a third-quarter goal review that reduced a Tim Taranto goal to a behind, but that will be the least of his worries right now.
This high-octane Giants side is in a slump the club has not experienced since it became an AFL powerhouse, and it is staring at a horrible regression after riding an upward trajectory towards since entering the competition.
The Giants' quest to snap a perilous three-match losing streak started in the worst possible fashion as Baguley snuck over the back into a vacant 50m and split the middle after less than 15 seconds.
It was clever from the visitors, with every forward set up on the edge of the centre square, leaving no one inside the 50m arc.
Baguley found himself over the back again with clear air in front of him and doubled the Bombers' goal tally before young gun Andrew McGrath snapped perfectly from 25m as the Giants were stuck behind the eight ball once again.
The home side fought back and turned it into an arm wrestle to three quarter team, but couldn't find a higher gear as the Bombers stormed late.
ESSENDON 5.2 7.3 8.8 14.11 (95)
GWS 2.3 5.6 7.9 8.12 (60)
Essendon: Goals – Baguley 3, Stringer 3, McGrath, Langford, Fantasia, Goddard, Smith, Stewart, McKernan, Zaharakis GWS: Cameron 2, Buckley 2, Griffen, Langdon, Coniglio, Patton
Best – Essendon: Heppell, Zaharakis, Smith, Merrett, Hooker, Guelfi, Saad GWS: Shaw, Coniglio, Ward, Kelly, Hopper
Injuries – GWS: Taranto (quad)
Umpires: Brett Rosebury, Jeff Dalgleish, Leigh Haussen
Crowd: 10,789 at Spotless Stadium
VOTES
Dyson Heppell (Essendon) 8
David Zaharakis (Essendon) 8
Devon Smith (Essendon) 8
Zach Merrett (Essendon) 8
Heath Shaw (GWS) 7
James Buckley writes on AFL for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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