FOR ESSENDON, it was the game they were expected to win, were expecting to win but, finally, couldn't win.
 
For the Brisbane Lions, it was perhaps the lack of expectation that was the biggest motivation in causing the upset of the season, a 10-point win over the Bombers at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Fittingly, after with 18 lead changes, it was Brent Staker who kicked the match-sealing goal with less than a minute remaining, putting a full stop on the Lions' 14.12 (96) to 12.14 (86) victory.

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Staker, who played his first game since 2011 after terrible knee injuries, won a free for being tripped 45 metres out from goal, next to the boundary. With the Lions ahead by four points but the Bombers pressing, Staker coolly slotted the win.
 
The Bombers were rampant in several of the key indicators, like clearances, inside-50s and contested possessions, but were out-tackled (73-45), out-muscled and out-bustled. In the end, the Lions did enough to achieve their first win in Melbourne since round 13 last year.
 
Their approach was grounded in aggression and physicality, and coach Michael Voss said it was a focus pre-game.
 
"Well it was because our starts have been so poor. We didn't focus on too much during the week except for just getting our start right," Voss said after the breakthrough win.
 
"To do that you've got to be able to bring a physical presence and I thought that it was probably the toughest that we've played for a long period of time.
 
"When you have those you always have borderline contests, but that's the game and that's how physical you've got to play and you've got to test those boundaries sometimes. The guys certainly did put their bodies on the line in the first quarter and they set it up for the rest of the match."
  
The Lions' fierce and fiery mindset is set to have repercussions at the Match Review Panel on Monday.
 
First came Daniel Merrett's sling tackle on Michael Hurley early in the opening term, which saw Hurley stripped of the ball and then swung into the ground over the boundary line.
 
Hurley, who has endured a tough run with injury, continued his luckless streak, and was subbed out of the game with no disposals to his name.

Later that term fourth-gamer Justin Clarke effected a late bump on a marking Elliott Kavanagh, which left the young Bomber floored and resulted in Essendon's first goal, a down the field free kick taken by Jobe Watson.
 
Kavanagh returned to kick the first goal of a seesawing second quarter, but the Lions' pressure around the ball didn't relent. Neither did their tactical nous; with Andrew Raines and Rohan Bewick curtailing important Essendon runners Brent Stanton and Michael Hibberd.

After trialing by seven points at half-time the Lions kicked three of the first four goals of the third quarter to jump to an eight-point lead.
 
The lead kept swapping throughout the term and the Lions' could have extended their break to nine points at the last change, had co-captain Jonathan Brown kicked straight after the siren.
 
He made amends soon after, although in controversial fashion, when Brown took a mark on the goalline. The mark was sent for a video review and replays suggested it was over the line, but the vision was deemed inconclusive. Brown snapped the goal, his second of the day in a return to form, and gave the Lions the momentum.
 
Others kept leading the way. Matthew Leuenberger didn't have many possessions but won 43 hit-outs in a dominant display, and Jack Redden had 22 disposals while limiting Watson.