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The Power struggled to get into the game early with poor disposal and a defence devoid of crucial backs Jackson Trengove and Alipate Carlile struggling to get on top of the Essendon midfield in the initial stages and trailed the scoring shots 1-10 halfway through the opening term.
Justin Westhoff booted Port Adelaide’s first on the run and followed it with a second shortly after, having won a free for being tackled after his original kick.
He would go on to slot three more from six scoring shots in a strong return for the damaging swingman.
Jay Schulz contributed two of his own to ease the Power into a one-point lead at the quarter time break - an advantage that flew in the face of relatively poor skills for much of the term.
That battle with ball use improved significantly in the second with Westhoff and Schulz again the chief destroyers for the visitors, but it was the contributions of several mid-tier runners, particularly Jasper Pittard and Jared Polec, who helped to boot the Power forward from Essendon’s rebound and aiding the Power to a slender six-point lead at half time.
Storming out of the block in the third quarter, the Power’s efforts in the midfield and quality movement from defensive 50 were rewarded with strong forward line kicking.
Jared Polec was the highlight for the quarter with a deft evasive manoeuvre from two Bombers to boot the only supergoal of the game.
The Power ran the game out with several passages of good ball movement and managed to hold the home side at bay with composed efforts on the outside of the ground, as well as several strong performances clearing the ball from the last line of defence.
The result was mired by the substitution of key forward Schulz from the match after being clipped on the back of the foot in a marking contest. portadelaidefc.com.au will have confirmation on a possible injury later on Tuesday night.
Port Adelaide's next game will be a trial match against St Kilda at Alberton Oval on Saturday 8 March.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 0.4.3 0.5.10 1.8.12 1.11.15 (90)
ESSENDON 0.3.8 0.4.10 0.8.11 0.9.11 (65)
portadelaidefc.com.au’s best players
Pittard, Cornes, Polec, Westhoff, Broadbent, Ebert, Gray
Goals
Westhoff 5, Schulz 2, Butcher, Wingard, Gray, Monfries
NAB Supergoals
Polec
Injuries
TBC
