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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Essendon ended a run of five straight defeats by beating the previously undefeated Geelong Cats by four points in the weekend's 15th round of Australian Rules football.
Halfback Dyson Heppell kicked the eventual winning goal as Essendon won 18.7 (115) to 16.15 (111), ending Geelong's 13-match winning streak to start the Australian Football League season.
Second-place Collingwood took advantage of Geelong's stumble to move to within one game of the Cats with a 15.16 (106) to 9.11 (65) win over Hawthorn on Sunday.
In other matches, Brisbane beat Port Adelaide 15.9 (99) to 13.10 (88), spoiling a seven-goal performance by Port forward Jay Schulz.
Adelaide spearhead Kurt Tippett kicked three goals as the Crows beat Sydney 8.9 (57) to 6.14 (50), Carlton remained in third place with a 103-point win over Richmond, 28.16 (184) to 12.9 (81) and the Western Bulldogs beat Melbourne 19.13 (127) to 8.15 (63).
The West Coast Eagles had a 15th-round bye.
Essendon assistant coach Mark Thompson was pitted against the Cats for the first time since last year's surprise resignation as Geelong coach. Thompson, a former Essendon skipper, had claimed then he was exhausted after an 11-year reign as Cats coach which included two premierships.
"We've been under the pump losing five in a row," said Bombers coach James Hird. "There's no doubt our performance last week (against Hawthorn) particularly wasn't good enough. For the guys to bounce back is a great credit to the character of the players."
Daniel Giansiracusa had four goals for the Bulldogs while Barry Hall kicked three. A minute's silence was observed before the first bounce for former Melbourne defender Sean Wight, who died of cancer on Thursday aged 47.
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Halfback Dyson Heppell kicked the eventual winning goal as Essendon won 18.7 (115) to 16.15 (111), ending Geelong's 13-match winning streak to start the Australian Football League season.
Second-place Collingwood took advantage of Geelong's stumble to move to within one game of the Cats with a 15.16 (106) to 9.11 (65) win over Hawthorn on Sunday.
In other matches, Brisbane beat Port Adelaide 15.9 (99) to 13.10 (88), spoiling a seven-goal performance by Port forward Jay Schulz.
Adelaide spearhead Kurt Tippett kicked three goals as the Crows beat Sydney 8.9 (57) to 6.14 (50), Carlton remained in third place with a 103-point win over Richmond, 28.16 (184) to 12.9 (81) and the Western Bulldogs beat Melbourne 19.13 (127) to 8.15 (63).
The West Coast Eagles had a 15th-round bye.
Essendon assistant coach Mark Thompson was pitted against the Cats for the first time since last year's surprise resignation as Geelong coach. Thompson, a former Essendon skipper, had claimed then he was exhausted after an 11-year reign as Cats coach which included two premierships.
"We've been under the pump losing five in a row," said Bombers coach James Hird. "There's no doubt our performance last week (against Hawthorn) particularly wasn't good enough. For the guys to bounce back is a great credit to the character of the players."
Daniel Giansiracusa had four goals for the Bulldogs while Barry Hall kicked three. A minute's silence was observed before the first bounce for former Melbourne defender Sean Wight, who died of cancer on Thursday aged 47.
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