Essendon had to battle and grind and overcome a persistent and spirited Richmond side to record a 23-point victory at the MCG on Friday night, pulling clear in the final term to secure the 11.15 (81) to 8.10 (58) result in the 21st Dreamtime at the 'G.

It was a dirty night both in terms of general play and on the injury front, with Kyle Langford (quad), Zach Reid (hamstring tightness), Thomson Dow (knee) and no.1 pick Sam Lalor (hamstring) all finishing on the bench.

On paper, Essendon entered the clash with far more experience. The Bombers' average games played per player was at 103.6, Richmond at 63.1. The Tigers had 13 players with fewer than 50 games to Essendon's six.

Richmond's defensive pressure was strong for the first 2.5 terms, but without Tom Lynch, Toby Nankervis and Noah Balta, the Tigers weren't able to take advantage of their work, and they completely ran out of steam in the last quarter.

By turn, Essendon's forward entries and disposal in the first half left much to be desired, until the game broke open somewhat halfway through the third term, and the Bombers drove home their advantage.

Debutant Angus Clarke provided a first-half spark with three majors, but most of the first half was flat.

Richmond's full-forward line on the team sheet – Jonty Faull, Sam Lalor and Tom Sims – were only drafted in November, and were a year off being born when the first Dreamtime at the 'G game was played in 2005, while fellow draftee Luke Trainor moved from defence to attack to complete the package.

It was a scrappy opening stanza, to put it mildly. Neither side were able to take a mark in attack, with Essendon's opening goal from Yiooken Award winner Nic Martin (35 disposals, two goals) coming from open play, while Tim Taranto's first for Richmond was a miraculous curler assisted by a push.

It led to a frustrating back-and-forth game in front of a crowd of 76,000 – the Bombers would burst through the middle of the field and kick it over the heads of their forwards, while the Tigers would scrap and scrape their way forward but struggled to find goals.

But Essendon's midfield crew of Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham and Zach Merrett began to control proceedings in the third term, sitting 17 ahead in clearances at the final break, while Martin found plenty of ball on the wing, and Archie Roberts provided plenty of bounce out of defence.

Sam Banks' strong form continued with 29 disposals, 23 kicks and 608 metres gained, with other impressive Tiger contributors being Jacob Hopper (23 disposals, 9 clearances, 5 score involvements), Nick Vlastuin (24 disposals, 10 intercept possessions, 17 kicks), Kane McAuliffe (21 disposals, 6 tackles, 5 score involvements) stand-in skipper Nathan Broad (22 disposals, 15 kicks, 8 marks) and Tom Brown (21 disposals, 16 kicks, 6 score involvements).

ESSENDON 2.1 6.4 9.8 11.15 (81)
RICHMOND 1.2 4.7 7.8 8.10 (58)

GOALS
Essendon: Clarke 3, Martin 2, Wright 2, Durham, Caddy, Guelfi, Perkins
Richmond: Taranto 2, Lalor 2, Ralphsmith 2, Faull, Mansell

BEST
Essendon: Martin, Durham, Merrett, Clarke, Caldwell, Goldstein
Richmond: Hopper, Broad, Vlastuin, Banks, Ralphsmith

INJURIES
Essendon: Langford (quad), Reid (hamstring)
Richmond: Dow (knee), Lalor (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Ben Hobbs (replaced Langford in the second term)
Richmond: Maurice Rioli jnr (replaced Dow at half-time)

Crowd: 76,051 at MCG