A late surge from Essendon has forced the Southern Saints to split the four points following Sunday afternoon’s seesawing contest at the NEC Hangar.

The Saints reeled in a 14-point half-time deficit with an unanswered 4.4 (28) in the third quarter, before two goals in the final eight minutes – including a 50-metre penalty to Bomber Courtney Ugle at the 18-minute mark – saw the home side slash the margin and ultimately level scores at 7.4 (46) apiece.

Essendon ultimately saw the better of its opportunities, capitalising on turnovers to give them the chance to generate a slender lead at the halfway mark.      

The Saints started to find their way into the contest in the second half, with Alexandra Hynes (24 hitouts, seven tackles) and Tahlia Meyer (16 disposals) in the thick of the action, while Hannah Stuart (22 disposals, nine clearances, one goal) looked right at home patrolling half-back.         

Winnie Laing saw plenty of the ball with 15 touches and Deanna Jolliffe (six tackles, three clearances) applied herself brilliantly being an ever-present danger to the Bombers’ offence, leaving Tessa Boyd and Olivia Flanagan (two goals each) to take charge of the scoreboard. 

Essendon refused to go away after the final change however, with Ugle's late major locking up scores to keep her side’s losses column empty after five rounds.

The Southern Saints will take on Casey Demons next week, with the date, time and venue to be determined in the coming days.

SOUTHERN SAINTS  3.0  3.0  7.4  7.4 (46)
ESSENDON  3.0  5.2  5.2  7.4 (46) 

GOALS
Southern Saints: Boyd 2, Flanagan 2, De Angelis, Ripari, Stuart
Essendon: Frew 2, Heil 2, Manfre, Ugle, Zanchetta

BEST
Southern Saints: Stuart, Hynes, Meyer, Jolliffe, Laing, Wallace, Flanagan
Essendon: Zanchetta, Doonan, Marshall, McIntosh, Nalder, Radford, Ashley-Cooper