ON A day to honour the bravery and spirit of those who have represented this nation in war, Essendon has stunned Collingwood to win a thriller by five points in front of 84,829 fans at the MCG.
The Magpies led by 14 points at the 25-minute mark of the final term, but the Bombers benefitted from a 50m penalty and kicked the last three goals of the match.
With just seconds remaining on the clock, it was draftee David Zaharakis who booted the Anzac Day sealer to set up the 13.15 (93) to 12.16 (88) result.
The Dons' effort was all the more meritorious given the loss of ruckman David Hille to what seemed to be a serious knee injury in the second minute of the match.
Patrick Ryder put in a courageous effort to carry the ruck against Josh Fraser and Leigh Brown from that point and finished with 27 hit-outs and 13 tackles to claim the Anzac Medal.
The Pies had their chances to put the match beyond the valiant Bombers late in the game, but three successive behinds were bettered by Leroy Jetta and Ricky Dyson – setting up Zaharakis' heroic moment.
Brent Stanton was outstanding for Essendon with 34 possessions as was Dyson with 27, but veterans Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas did not manage a goal between them.
Lloyd needed just one to post the 900th of his career.
Dane Swan (37 touches) and Leon Davis (32) led the way for Collingwood while John Anthony booted four goals.
Both sides made significant late changes with Alan Didak (calf) out for the Pies, replaced by debutant Brent Macaffer, and Essendon recalling Dyson for Mark McVeigh.
The loss of Hille was immediately felt with the Magpies taking advantage with the first two goals of the match while Matthew Knights re-shuffled his defence.
Macaffer booted a goal with his first kick at AFL level, but the under-siege Bombers dug deep to mount a counter-attack.
Stanton was important with 10 possessions for the term, but the Dons spurned repeated opportunities to put scoreboard pressure on the opposition with a wasteful five behinds.
It took Jason Winderlich to split the middle late in the quarter.
The Pies did well to absorb the pressure and Travis Cloke's goal after the siren put them 15 points ahead, but Collingwood fans expecting the Dons to roll over were sorely disappointed.
Through Andrew Lovett, Sam Lonergan and Adam McPhee, Essendon hammered through the first three goals of the second quarter to take the lead.
Mick Malthouse didn't like what he was seeing from Cloke and Anthony Rocca and moved Anthony to full-forward with immediate effect.
He slotted two goals as the tempo of the game moved up a notch.
Again the Bombers were equal to the task with a superb left-foot effort from Dyson and Angus Monfries' long bomb sending the sides into half time on level terms.
The defiant Dons continued to run hard in the third, but also preserved their inaccuracy from set shots.
However, goals to Alwyn Davey and Lovett pushed their to 17 points, rewarding their hard work but only for Davis to ensure a nine-point deficit at the last change.
The brave Bombers seemed to have run out of legs after Ryder's goal was matched by Scott Pendlebury and the final margin looked the only thing that needed confirmation when Davis' nonchalant effort from 50 extended the lead.
But that was to be Collingwood's last as the Dons summoned a super-human effort to pull off one of the more memorable win in their club's illustrious history.
Essendon 1.5 6.6 9.13 13.15 (93)
Collingwood 4.2 6.6 8.10 12.16 (88)
GOALS
Essendon: Dyson 2, Lovett 2, Davey, Jetta, Lonergan, McPhee, Monfries, Ryder, Stanton, Winderlich, Zaharakis
Collingwood: Anthony 4, Davis 2, L. Brown, Cloke, Macaffer, Medhurst, Pendlebury, Rocca
BEST
Essendon: Ryder, Stanton, McPhee, Watson, Fletcher, Dyson, Winderlich
Collingwood: Swan, Anthony, Prestigiacomo, Davis, Pendlebury, O'Bree
INJURIES
Essendon: David Hille (knee), Mark McVeigh (ankle) replaced in selected side by Ricky Dyson
Collingwood: Shane O'Bree (shoulder), Alan Didak (calf) replaced in selected side by Brent Macaffer
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, Ryan
Official crowd: 84,829 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
