Geelong's premiership ambitions have been exposed as a false hope after a rampaging Bombers outfit outmuscled the Cats 16.11 (107) to 13.16 (94) in a stirring encounter at Telstra Dome on Friday night.

Geelong looked to have worked into a winning position with the momentum and a 14-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Dons came storming back with four third-quarter goals to Scott Lucas turning the tables.

The Cats had the question asked of them in the last quarter and they came up empty-handed as the Bombers ruthlessly pressed home the advantage.

Lucas was pivotal to the win with 17 kicks, nine marks and six goals and Nathan Lovett-Murray was eye-catching off a half-back flank with 20 touches.

Skipper James Hird toiled hard all night and came to the fore when required - kicking two goals early in the final term to help seal the result.

Joel Corey was the clear standout for the Cats with 36 possessions and 11 marks, while captain Steven King seemed to work his way back into some sort of form with a 14-disposal, 30-hitout effort.

It was a hot contest early with plenty of pressure around the ball and strong tackles aplenty. The Bombers were just outpointing the Cats around the stoppages, but Geelong went ahead through Jimmy Bartel after Hird had sprayed a set shot badly in the first minute.

Matthew Scarlett had the job on Matthew Lloyd and it was the Bomber spearhead who drew first blood - kicking his first after holding off Scarlett with one arm and marking with the other.

Ricky Dyson slotted a nice running goal from tight on the boundary to give Essendon its first lead for the night 15 minutes in, and the Cats were starting to look out of sorts.

Kane Tenace took it upon himself to spark Geelong with his slashing six-bounce run ending in a James Kelly goal, but directly from the restart Lucas pounced on a Cameron Mooney error to answer for the Dons.

Dean Rioli was the villain for the Bombers late in the term with two poor kicks turning over possession and finishing in goals to Gary Ablett and Kent Kingsley.

The Cats took an eight-point lead into the second quarter and were starting to build momentum before Ted Richards ran in from the boundary to improve his angle and kick a superb goal.

Dustin Fletcher was matched against Kent Kingsley and the beanpole full-back gifted his opponent two goals for the term after infringing twice well within scoring range.

Essendon put on three goals in as many minutes midway through the quarter with Lloyd dishing one off to Brent Stanton and bagging one himself.

Neither side was able to establish a clear break, however, and Geelong fought back with goals to Steve Johnson and Kelly restoring their eight-point lead going into half-time.

A few harsh words were exchanged as the teams headed towards their respective rooms and a push-and-shove involving about 20 players could see a few lighter in the pocket.

David Hille capped a desperate passage of play with a soccered goal after the restart, but a poor piece of ill-discipline from Dean Solomon on Ablett saw Paul Chapman convert after a 50-metre penalty brought him within scoring range.

Brad Ottens' first soon after gave the Cats the biggest lead of the night of 14 points and now it was the Bombers turn to look shaky.

Enter Scott Lucas. With two goals already to his name, the big forward had been serviceable without dominating, but exploded for another four goals to bring the Dons marching back.

Three of those goals were his trademark long-distance efforts, but the final goal in that volley was launched while he was well inside the centre square!

Peter Riccardi pulled one back late, but the Cats were under siege and trailed by seven points at the last change.

Geelong's premiership aspirations, if not its season, hung in the balance as the last quarter got underway and the Cats did little to show they were worthy contenders.

Hird snapped a freakish goal early and followed it later with a more orthodox effort, while Lloyd slammed through his third as the Cats went quietly off into the night.

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy wasn't getting carried away with the result and put his side's recent resurgence down to his younger players gaining experience.

"I think that in the end, to be quite honest, we deserve where we are," he said.

"In many ways it's what happens when you play a lot of young players in the the team and it takes two-thirds of the season for them to gain experience and confidence."

Geelong coach Mark Thompson was disappointed with the loss, but claimed the performance by the Cats was better than last week's.

"I'm happier than what I was last week," Thompson said after the loss.

"There was a lot of improvement made today. I thought our pressure and our attack on the ball was much stronger. We took the ball inside 50 a lot of times, and today we just didn't get enough result from that, which has been a bit of a recurring problem over a period of time."

ESSENDON: 3.2, 7.5, 13.7, 16.11 (107)
GEELONG: 4.4, 8.7, 11.12, 13.16 (94)

GOALS – Essendon: Lucas 6, Lloyd 3, Hird 2, Dyson, Richards, Stanton, Hille, M. Johnson
Geelong: Kingsley 3, Ablett 2, Kelly 2, Bartel, S. Johnson, Chapman, Ottens, Riccardi, Milburn
BEST – Essendon: Lucas, Lovett-Murray, Hird, Peverill, Fletcher, M. Johnson, Welsh
Geelong: Corey, Ling, Bartel, Tenace, Chapman, Scarlett
INJURIES – Essendon: Nil
Geelong: Nil
CHANGES – Essendon: McPhee (strained abdominals) replaced in selected side by Winderlich
REPORTS - Nil
UMPIRES - Stevic, McInerney, Goldspink
CROWD - 47,122 at Telstra Dome