IF EVER one game of football summed up an AFL club’s entire season, this was it.

The Essendon-West Coast clash was a game played in two distinct halves reflecting a year where the Bombers struggled for the first half of the season losing eight games straight before charging back into finals calculations with six wins from their next seven.

Essendon played some exciting footy in those eight straight losses but were punished for their lack of accountability.

The Bombers’ first half against West Coast lacked both accountability and intensity at the contest as the Eagles’ midfield ran amok punishing them on the scoreboard.

Coach Matthew Knights said the Bombers were “in a pretty good zone” before the game and were focussed on the task ahead.

But it was West Coast who cracked the whip early with a goal on the board within 18 seconds of the opening siren.

The Essendon defence was finding plenty of the ball mainly due to the continuous wave of West Coast attacks being generated by their rampant midfield.

At one point Dustin Fletcher was called on to make four aerial spoils in less than two minutes, underlining the relentless pressure the Bombers’ defenders were under.

The damage was done by half time with Essendon trailing by 38 points.

Just as they turned around their season, the Bombers turned around the game. Andrew Lovett, Jobe Watson and Andrew Welsh lifted their work-rate and Matthew Lloyd and Leroy Jetta began causing headaches for the West Coast defence.

Jason Laycock, who had a forgettable first half, redeemed himself with some strong marking and three goals as Essendon kicked 12 goals to seven after half-time.

But every time the Bombers moved within striking distance West Coast was able to find another way to goal, mainly through Ben McKinley who finished with seven.

There was a lot to like about the Bombers’ second half effort, particularly the work of youngsters Courtenay Dempsey and Heath Hocking and the blooding of Rhys Magin.

In the end the Bombers paid a price for their poor first half and despite an excellent second half effort fell agonisingly short by 10 points.

Likewise, their much-improved second half of 2008 will not be enough to overcome the earlier eight straight losses, leaving Knights to concede it was “extremely unlikely” they’ll scrape into the finals.

With three games remaining, the Bombers are two wins short of last season’s 10 win result. But they have achieved it with a radically younger and faster squad with the likes of Dempsey, Magin, Jetta and Hocking signalling that Essendon’s future may best be summed up by a sponsor’s slogan from its recent past – “speed kills”.