ESSENDON has suffered a double blow, with midfielder Brent Prismall stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious knee injury and Travis Colyer carried off with a lower leg injury in the opening quarter of Sunday's game against Collingwood.

Prismall moved towards a contest three minutes into the first quarter when his left knee gave way and he was immediately stretchered off, with debutant Michael Ross subbed on as his replacement.

Twenty minutes later Colyer had his right leg crushed by the body weight of Collingwood defender Harry O'Brien.

With the stretcher unavailable, Colyer had to be carried from the ground, unable to bear any weight on his right leg.

The injuries had little effect as the Bombers flew out of the blocks against the Pies, kicking 8.3 (51) to 4.4 (28) in the first term.

It was the highest score Collingwood had conceded in any quarter this year and the Pies' worst first quarter since 2005 when the Western Bulldogs kicked nine goals against them in round 22.

It is the second serious knee injury for Prismall - in his final season at Geelong in 2008, he underwent a full knee reconstruction when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the qualifying final against St Kilda.

It has been a horror year for knee injuries at Essendon with Courtenay Dempsey and Jason Winderlich both requiring reconstructions after rupturing their ACLs in round four against Carlton.

Meanwhile, it has often been said that when Peter Daicos handed his No. 35 to Simon Prestigiacomo that the days of brilliant goals kicked in that famous number were a thing of the past.

But on Sunday, it was back to the good old days, with first-year player Alex Fasolo kicking an unbelievable goal 10 minutes into the first quarter of the clash with Essendon.

Fasolo received a handball from Brent Macaffer 55 metres out and right on the boundary line. Without any panic he put the ball through from an impossible spot that prompted the call 'Daicos-esque.'