Essendon have bounced back from their AFL Gather Round horror show with a runaway 29-point win over the Western Bulldogs.
A week after being embarrassed by Port Adelaide, the Bombers were up for the fight in a 15.6 (96) to 9.13 (67) victory in a feisty contest at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Brad Scott's men trailed by 10 points midway through the second term but overwhelmed their opponents with 10 of the next 11 goals.
The result gave the Bombers a 3-2 record ahead of an interstate trip to take on winless Adelaide next week.
Zach Merrett (27 disposals) was typically busy in the midfield alongside Jye Caldwell (23) and Sam Durham (21) while Jake Stringer delighted in kicking two goals against his former club.
Kyle Langford (three), Harrison Jones and Xavier Duursma (two each) also kicked multiple goals.
Taught a lesson by Port Adelaide in centre clearances last week in a 69-point thumping, the Bombers redressed their issues in that area as Todd Goldstein and Sam Draper won their ruck battle with All-Australian Tim English and Sam Darcy.
"Clearly the response to a poor performance last week was what's important," Bombers coach Scott said.
"When things are going well for you, you get positive reinforcement of what's working, but I've always been a believer that you learn most from your losses.
"To respond like we did particularly in centre bounces was really important and I thought our rucks were really important in that part of the game as well."
The only downside for Essendon was Jye Menzie's shoulder injury, which forced him out of the game at three-quarter time as a precaution.
Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan kicked 3.3 from 12 touches in his 50th AFL game but missed an important set shot at the start of the final quarter before the Bombers kicked away.
Tom Liberatore (25 disposals, nine clearances), Adam Treloar (28, four) and Ed Richards (22 touches) fought hard for the Dogs, but collectively they had no answer to Essendon's spread of contributors.
The lead changed hands six times in an entertaining opening 40 minutes before the Bulldogs fell in a hole, coughing up the last three goals of the second term and dropping right away after the main break.
"There was a period where Essendon got a stranglehold through their pressure and we didn't handle it too well," Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said.
"We knew coming into tonight they were stung off the back of last week and there was obviously some commentary about the second half last week for them.
"Behind closed doors, we came here feeling pretty bullish about our chances and in the end it's a disappointing night.
"As it rolled on, we just didn't get anything going."
There was a concerning moment late in the game when Liberatore fell to the ground with nobody near him, prompting opponent Darcy Parish to signal to the benches for assistance.
Liberatore told ABC Radio he had lost his balance after tweaking his ankle earlier in the last quarter, declaring he had no symptoms and full recollection of the incident.
Beveridge said the experienced midfielder had been checked and cleared of any issues.
"For some reason he lost his footing and stumbled, but he's fine," Beveridge said.
"He's been looked after and there's no concussion or anything like that.
"We were coming in (to the changeroom) just making sure he's ok and he's apparently fine."
