ESSENDON'S finals hopes have been all but ended by a committed West Coast outfit, the Bombers going down by 10 points at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

West Coast continued its dominance over the Bombers in Perth, recording a 17.11 (113) to 16.7 (103) victory, their 11th out of 13 Subiaco clashes against Essendon.

The Bombers paid a heavy price for a slow start and could not quell the impact of West Coast forward Ben McKinley who finished the game with a career-best seven goals. Jason Laycock and Matthew Lloyd each kicked three for Essendon.

West Coast stunned the Bombers with a quick start, Adam Selwood kicking the home side’s first goal with just 18 seconds on the clock.

Essendon quickly replied through Ricky Dyson but West Coast were dominant through the midfield as Dean Cox worked his way on top of David Hille.

The Bomber defence was working overtime and gathering plenty of possessions with Adam Ramanauskas and Dustin Fletcher prominent. But the Eagles kept finding a path to goal with McKinley and the evergreen David Wirrpanda each kicking two goals for the quarter.

Leroy Jetta kicked another miraculous goal, this time dribbling the ball in from 35 metres before Ramanauskas pumped through a long shot from just outside 50m to leave the Bombers 19 points adrift at the first break.

The second quarter developed into a battle of the defences and it took 10 minutes for West Coast to break the deadlock through Selwood’s second goal.

Adam McPhee marked and goaled to keep the Bombers in touch but McKinley then posted two majors in as many minutes – the second challenging Jetta’s earlier dribbled effort.

Henry Slattery had shut down Wirrpanda, but a high tackle on the veteran saw him post his third, and put West Coast clear by 38 points at the long break.

With their season on the line in the second half the Bombers needed a lift and again found inspiration through skipper Lloyd, who put in another bid for mark of the year.

The following kick fell short but safely into the arms of Hille who slotted his first goal. When Lloyd followed up with his first and Monfries kicked truly from a set shot, the Bombers reduced the gap to just 20 points and appeared to be gaining momentum.

With Wirrpanda struggling with a hamstring strain, the West Coast’s small forwards again popped up with goals to McKinley and Mark LeCras, despite Fletcher being supreme in the aerial duels in the Bombers’ defensive 50m.

Lloyd and Jason Laycock both kicked goals deep into time on to give the Bombers some hope, and they trailed by 20 points at the final break.

Essendon threw everything at West Coast in the final quarter as the sides traded goals with the Bombers clawing the margin back to 10 points as the final siren loomed. 

McKinley again proved to be the difference, kicking two goals at crucial stages to steady the home side, his seventh deep into time-on snuffed out the Bombers’ last hopes of a miracle comeback.

McKinley was the standout performer of the day and was well supported by Quinten Lynch and Michael Braun, who dominated in the midfield, with Dean Cox coming out on top in the ruck duels.

Andrew Lovett led the Bombers' comeback in the second half, along with the hard working Jobe Watson and Andrew Welsh providing great run. Fletcher toiled hard in defence and Matthew Lloyd kept providing a target in the forward 50.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.