THE TOP eight is locked and loaded after Essendon ended Port Adelaide's faint finals hopes with a 22-point victory at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

The Bombers farewelled departing veteran Brendon Goddard in style, winning 17.9 (111) to 13.11 (89) in front of a crowd of 39,168.

The Power's loss means Geelong is assured of playing in September regardless of the result of its encounter with Gold Coast at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.

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Despite being out of finals contention before the first bounce, the Bombers were in control of the contest with the exception of a 22-minute patch to start the second quarter.

The result looked in the bag when the Bombers went up by 43 points at the 29-minute mark of the third term.

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But then the injuries to their tall timber started to rack up.

Having already lost ruckman Matthew Leunberger early in the third quarter with a calf injury, key defender Michael Hurley left the ground with a hamstring complaint.

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Evergreen veteran Justin Westhoff carried the Power on his back, kicking three straight goals before Paddy Ryder kicked truly to narrow the margin to 17 points at the 15-minute mark in the last quarter.

But the Bombers were able to hang on for their first win in five attempts at Adelaide Oval on the back of a brutal tackling display (85 to 46), despite the Power winning contested possessions (+9), inside 50s (+3) and clearances (+7).

"It was confirmation of the hard work we've been putting in throughout the whole year," Bombers coach John Worsfold said.

"It was confirmation about the style of footy we want to play we think will hold up against good teams and more learning about the capabilities of us as a team."

In his final game for the Bombers, and possibly the last of his outstanding 334-game career, Goddard ran through the banner with his two young daughters Billie and McKenzie in his arms.

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Even at age 34 next season, the veteran defender showed he could offer value to another club with a workmanlike performance across half-back, finishing with 27 disposals.

Defender Aaron Francis (12 contested possessions, 11 marks) backed up his NAB AFL Rising Star nominee performance with another imposing effort with his intercept marking, including six contested marks.

Recruit of the year Devon Smith (29 disposals) broke the home-and-away record for tackles with 187, Zach Merrett (29 disposals), David Zaharakis (25 and two goals) and Dyson Heppell (26 disposals and two goals) controlled the midfield and Jayden Laverde, Mitch Brown and Kyle Langford kicked three goals each.

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Power winger Jared Polec – the subject of a lucrative offer from North Melbourne - was outstanding with 30 disposals in what could be his final game for the club.

Chad Wingard had a game-high 32 disposals and Westhoff kicked five goals.

The loss capped a disappointing campaign for the Power, who dropped six of their final seven games to go from 11-4 after round 16 to finish 12-10 and miss the finals.

"We're really disappointed as a footy club," Power coach Ken Hinkley said.

"Tonight was somewhat of a flip of our season. We started really poorly, got going in the end, fight back a bit, just didn't give ourselves a chance to win.

"We weren't up early for the speed of Essendon, their willingness to win it around the ball and get hard forward."

MEDICAL ROOM
Port Adelaide: Nothing serious for the Power. Forward Jack Watts grabbed his hamstring when stretching for a mark towards the boundary line in the second quarter, while defender Jarrod Lienert copped a knee in the back early. Both finished the game.

Essendon: Ruckman Matt Leuenberger left the ground early in the third quarter with a calf injury and didn't play any further part in the game. Key defender Michael Hurley injured his hamstring in the third term, but finished the game.

NEXT UP

Both the Bombers and the Power can start planning for next season, starting with the NAB AFL Trade Period in October, followed by the national draft in November.

PORT ADELAIDE  1.1   5.6   9.7   13.11 (89)
ESSENDON          6.4   9.7  15.8  17.9 (111)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Westhoff 5, Ebert 2, Farrell, Gray, Polec, Frampton, Ryder, Boak
Essendon: Laverde 3, Brown 3, Langford 3, McDonald-Tipungwuti 2, Heppell 2, Zaharakis 2, Baguley, Myers 

BEST 
Port Adelaide: Polec, Westhoff, Wingard, Boak
Essendon: Smith, Merrett, Goddard, Francis, Heppell, Parish, Brown, Zaharakis                                                                          

INJURIES 
Port Adelaide: TBC
Essendon: Leuenberger (calf), Hurley 

Reports: TBC

Umpires: Margetts, Findlay, Mollison

Official crowd: 39,168 at the Adelaide Oval