1st Semi Final
	V
Port Adelaide 11.17 (83)		Essendon 8.11 (59)

Essendon has bowed out of the 2002 finals series after going down by 24 points to Port Adelaide in the first semi-final at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

The Power set up its first finals victory with a six-goal third quarter that cracked open a tight contest dominated by both defences.

In a low scoring game that was all about momentum swings, Power kicked the first three goals, then conceded five to the Bombers to trail by 12 points at half time.

With neither side able to find a consistent avenue to goal, it was a significant lead and the Power looked to be wilting again under the weight of expectation.

But the Power midfielders, who had been well beaten by the Jason Johnson, Peverill and Misiti in the first half, found their legs in the third.

Stuart Dew bombed two trademark goals and Nick Stevens ran hard through lines to score two more and kick the Power away.

The Power led by 22 points at three-quarter time, but with Kevin Sheedy throwing all his guns forward, the Bombers came again with two early goals to bring the margin back to 12 points.

Midway through the quarter, Blake Caracella squandered two golden opportunities to put real scoreboard pressure on Power, missing two shots within a minute.

And when Che Cockatoo-Collins goaled from the rebound and Warren Tredrea outmuscled Sean Wellman to kick another minutes later, the Power had weathered the storm.

With James Hird underdone, the Bombers possibly missed Matthew Lloyd more than the suspended Fletcher.

Still suffering from his head-clash with Eagle Adam Hunter at Colonial Stadium last Saturday, Lloyd failed to take his place in the line-up.

Hird played forward for the first three quarters but was overshadowed by former team mate Gavin Wanganeen, who hardly put a foot wrong deep in defence.

With Scott Lucas working both forward and back all night to cover Tredrea, the Bombers had no consistent go-to forward, while the Power went with a small attack again.

It worked, with Dew booting three and Peter Burgoyne and Stevens two each.

But it was Chad Cornes who the Bombers had most difficult matching up on. He was the dominant forward on the ground, leading hard and pulling down 13 marks in a best-on-ground display.

Kevin Sheedy wasn’t making excuses for the loss of Fletcher and Lloyd before the game, but he said the Bombers had lacked a focus in attack.

“I’m disappointed. I thought that if some of our better players had have played better, we could have won the game,” he said.

“But we kicked eight goals to 11 and you’re not going to win many finals with that sort of goal power.”

Sheedy said he was yet to talk to veteran ruckman Paul Salmon about his future, but thought young ruckmen Hill and O’Keefe were due to step up.

“It was really pleasing to see him (Salmon) come back and show what can be done with dedication.

“In the end, the fans were really appreciative of it…and I think the fans really enjoyed to see him perform the way he has.”

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