Essendon rallies to deny Port Adelaide Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis celebrates a last quarter goal against Port Adelaide. THE big plus for the Bombers was they found a way to win without their inspirational skipper Jobe Watson. All week the talk has been about Jake Carlisle and Michael Hurley. Everyone seemed to have a different opinion on who should play where after Carlisle's heroics in the forward line against West Coast and Hurley's troubles in the front half. What was the Bombers best forward structure? No-one mentioned Tom Bellchambers. James Hird clearly liked what he saw from Carlisle and sent him to centre half-forward at the opening bounce with Hurley standing 15m behind him in the goalsquare while Bellchambers started on the bench. At the 16-minute mark of the first quarter Bellchambers had kicked all three of Essendon's goals. Fast forward two hours and there he was again, icing the game with the final two goals of the night to finally put to bed a spirited Port Adelaide team. Bellchambers finished with 5.1 goals from 17 possessions and 10 marks and led from the goalsquare like Paul Salmon in his prime. To further confuse the forward line debate, Carlisle had a shocker while Hurley was lively with three goals. Carlisle certainly was not missed down the other end with Cale Hooker - he was the Bombers' highest possession winner on the ground with 30 - and Tayte Pears combining for 19 marks while veteran Dustin Fletcher had 24 touches in his return. The Bombers' win was a good old-fashioned hard-fought one given they had a number of hurdles to overcome, not only a persistent Port.Some bad misses in the final quarter cost the Power - they kicked 3.9 - and the 30-point margin probably didn't do them justice. Bombers skipper Jobe Watson snapped his collarbone in a heavy bump during the first quarter. The big plus for the Bombers was they found a way to win without their inspirational skipper Jobe Watson. He was out of the game at the 20-minute mark with a busted collarbone courtesy of a solid bump from Port's Justin Westhoff. They also had to carry another prime mover with Brent Stanton clearly hampered in the second half by an ankle injury. The main man to take up the slack was David Zaharakis who was brilliant all night with 27 possessions and two goals while the likes of Brendon Goddard (29 touches including a key goal in the final quarter), Dyson Heppell and Jake Melksham all stepped up. Ruckman Patrick Ryder was also a dominant figure around the ground and played a key role in his team's match-winning surge in the second quarter when they kicked six goals in 15 minutes. Port's plight was summed up best by the last goal of that sequence which was kicked by Ryder. It came about after a horrible blunder from veteran Kane Cornes who went for a short pass in the back pocket but kicked it straight to Jackson Merrett who was standing the mark. He calmly passed it to Ryder who slotted the goal from 20m to make the margin 31 points. A minute later Port ball magnet Brad Ebert had the ball on the wing and his attempted left-foot pass sailed out on the full. Port was simply crumbling under the pressure. Enter Angus Monfries. The ex-Bomber has played in enough games at Etihad Stadium to know momentum can changes so quickly at the indoor stadium. After Jason Winderlich got the first goal of the third quarter at the two-minute mark, Monfries came to life kicking three of the next four goals as Port stormed back into the match. At the 11-minute mark they were back within seven points an upset was brewing. But Essendon steadied and they were assisted by a brain fade from Monfries who played on when he had a set shot from 25m with his around-the-corner kick missing. Five minutes earlier Melksham had done exactly the same thing, passing up a set shot by playing on to go around the corner with his attempt smothered. The Bombers kicked the final three goals of the third term to have a 24-point breathing space at the final break. But as has been the case all year with Port under Ken Hinkley, they refused to go away albeit for no reward this time. Power forward Justin Westhoff was reported for this hit on Bomber Cale Hooker.