AFL LIVE: Seven scoring shots to one as Eagles jump Essendon, Watson speaks on Hird’s coaching prospects

Essendon have not got the new coach spike in their first match under interim coach Dean Solomon after West Coast dismantled the Bombers in wet and windy conditions at Optus Stadium to run out 30-point winners.

With the wind favouring one end, the Eagles put their foot down when kicking with the breeze in the third quarter as they booted the first five goals of the second half to stretch the lead to 53 points.

After Solomon made the move to send struggling defender Ben McKay forward, the Bombers hung in there for the first quarter and a half with the Eagles’ Reuben Ginbey the main man denying Essendon scoring opportunities.

Essendon only trailed by 16 points at quarter time then drew within a point after kicking the first two goals of the second quarter.

But they could not continue their run as the Eagles midfield - led by Harley Reid - lifted his team.

Reid was brilliant, playing with an imperious presence as he bullied young and old around the ball to create opportunities topping his first half off with a contender for goal of the year on the siren.

The Bombers, at that point, were in the game despite suffering another injury when Archer May suffered a game-ending shoulder injury when he dislocated it flying courageously for a mark.

But before the ball was even thrown up in the third quarter, antagonistic forward Milan Murdock won a free kick inside 50 and kicked a goal to open up the floodgates.

He was handy with three goals while Jake Waterman played like he was a Harlem Globetrotter at times inside 50 such was his confidence to also kick three goals.

The Bombers defence had no answer as the ball moved inside 50 too quickly.

Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish tried hard, racking up possessions but they could not make much of an impact in a team that had lost 664 games experience to injury during the week and was only able to replace them with five young players with the combined experience of 177 matches.

Merrett finished with a goal and 28 possessions to be the Bombers’ best player despite his sometimes wayward field kicking.

The dream upset win did not happen but they did get a glimpse of what it might be like to have good No.1 picks in the team as Reid and Duursma ran amok.

Essendon just have to get the coaching selection and the early picks right and then get to work. And hope the next win is not too far away.