ESSENDON coach Brad Scott was pleased with how his players responded to a week of criticism in their 12-point victory over Port Adelaide on Thursday night.
The Bombers, who faced harsh scrutiny following their 10-goal loss to in-form Adelaide in round two, trailed for most of the match against the Power before a four-goal final term saw them storm home to notch their first win of the season.
BOMBERS v POWER Full match coverage and stats
"I think the most pleasing thing is when you have a disappointing performance, you get to choose how you respond to it,” Scott said post-match.
"You know, you can capitulate and it's all too hard and the pressure's overwhelming or you can respond. I think that's a pretty good measure of character.
"I think we've got a capable group. That doesn't mean that they're finished products by any stretch of the imagination.
"The work they put in during the week, when really they probably could have said, ‘Look, I'm exhausted, I need a break'."
Scott commended the performance of key defender Ben McKay, who received Bronx cheers from his own supporters in the Thursday night match at Marvel Stadium.
"He was the leading intercept defender on the ground for the most part of the game. He was really, really important for us tonight," Scott said.
"And the thing is with key defenders, when you have breakdowns all over the ground defensively, it's usually the last line key defenders that get hung out to dry. And we hung them out to dry last week.
"Ben McKay's a really important part of what we're doing and I have great belief in his capability.”
For Port Adelaide, Ken Hinkley was disappointed that a number of his key leaders didn’t stand up in the close match.
Captain Connor Rozee had a quiet night by his lofty standards, finishing with 22 disposals, while Willem Drew (15 disposals) and Travis Boak (18 disposals) were also quiet.
"The disappointing part is that our key players, our better players, were the ones who we needed to stand up. They just weren't quite at that level all the way through the game,” said Hinkley.
"I think collectively our more senior players were a little bit down on us tonight. They know that. They're mature enough now and understand where they're at.
"You've just got to accept that they can't play great footy every week. We had too many down together. I think that was the key to tonight.”
On a positive note, Hinkley was pleased with the performance of 18-year-old Christian Moraes in just his second senior game.
Moraes finished the night with 27 disposals, equal second most for the Power behind Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines and level with fellow wing Jase Burgoyne.
"Christian Moraes last week came on as a sub and played a really solid game. It looked like he grew again tonight, I thought, the way he performed," Hinkley said.
