Essendon showed tremendous steel in the third period,their ball use in the wet cleaner than it had been in the dry,and their thirst for the contest clearly evident.
The Power,smashed at the contest by Geelong last weekend,received another dose of the same at the hands of the Bombers after half-time.
Essendon rifled five unanswered goals either side of the long break and registered 11 straight inside-50s to begin the third term to reduce the margin to seven points.
Trent Dumont’s late steadier against the grain gave Port some belated breathing space before the home side hung on grimly following a scrappy,goalless final term,allowing them to stay within touching distance of the top eight.
Essendon didn’t quite secure that much-needed win – but they lost no friends in the process.
Third time lucky
Sam Powell-Pepper had three bites at the cherry in as many minutes as he sought to extend Port’s advantage during the second-quarter procession.
After burning Steven Motlop on his outside,Powell-Pepper missed a right-foot snap before shanking a free kick moments later when Laverde dragged him down.
Powell-Pepper made amends for the two respites when he sneaked between Zac Reid and Jake Kelly and snapped truly with his non-preferred left foot to stretch the Power’s lead to a game-high 38 points.
PORT ADELAIDE
4.2 8.4 9.8 9.12 (66)
ESSENDON
0.6 2.9 6.12 6.14 (50)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Dixon 2,Dumont,Butters,Marshall,Rozee,Powell-Pepper,Finlayson,Motlop
Essendon: Waterman,Martin,Durham,McGrath,Jones,Phillips
BEST
Port Adelaide: Rozee,Butters,Wines,Houston,Clurey,Boak.
Essendon: Parish,Martin,Merrett,Hind,Ridley,Durham.
UMPIRES
Toner,Pell,Mollison
CROWD
25,877 at Adelaide Oval
VOTES
Darcy Parish (Essendon)8
Connor Rozee (Port) 7
Zak Butters (Port)7
Ollie Wines (Port) 7
Nic Martin (Essendon)7