Australian Football League: Essendon defeat Collingwood in ANZAC Day match

Yesterday saw Essendon Football Club defeat the Collingwood Football Club in their annual ANZAC Day Australian rules football match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ANZAC Day match between Collingwood and Essendon has been a traditional fixture of the Australian Football League season since 1995.

The game is usually played as a stand alone game on a week day, it is the first game of the round (if played on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday) or the last (Monday or Tuesday). In 2009 the match was the first of four played on a Saturday.

In a closely fought contest, Essendon kicked three goals in four minutes - a reletively rare occurrence - to snatch an unlikely win.

Collingwood led by fifteen points at quarter time. Essendon clawed their way back to tie scores at half time and to lead by nine points at three quarter time.

The final quarter had the crowd well and truly out of their seats as Collingwood took a fourteen point lead going into the final eight minutes. Essendon's comeback started with four and a half minutes left in the match with a goal to Lerdy Jetta.

Ricky Dyson kicked his second goal two minutes later to pull Essendon within a goal - six points. Essendon tested the Collingwood defence for the next two and a half minutes, but resulted in a rushed behind - one point. David Zaharakis kicked the final goal of the game thirty seconds later.