2026 VFL Season Round 2: Essendon Reserves v North Melbourne Reserves

This is the match report for the match played on 28 March 2026 between the Essendon Reserves and the North Melbourne Reserves during round two of the 2026 season of the Victorian Football League. The Essendon Reserves hosted the North Melbourne Reserves at the NEC Hangar. Xavier O'Neill captained the hosts with Jackson Hately as vice-captain. The hosts were coached by Cameron Joyce and the visitors were coached by Adam Marcon.

The Essendon Reserves (15.8.98) defeated the North Melbourne Reserves (12.7.79).

Match Details

Season: 2026 VFL Season
Round: Round 2
Teams: Essendon Reserves v North Melbourne Reserves
Date: Saturday 28 March 2026
Time: 12:35 PM
Venue: NEC Hangar

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon Reserves def. North Melbourne Reserves
Score: 15.8.98 - 12.7.79

Quarter Breakdown

	Q1			Q2			Q3			Q4			Final
Essendon Reserves	5	.	2	8	.	3	12	.	4	15	.	8	15	.	8	(98)
North Melbourne Reserves	4	.	2	8	.	2	11	.	5	12	.	7	12	.	7	(79)
Margin	ESSR by 6			ESSR by 1			ESSR by 5			ESSR by 19			ESSR by 19
Duration	30:46			28:48			29:49			28:17			1:57:40

Score Worm

This chart is oriented such that the margin is positive when the hosts (Essendon Reserves) are in the lead and is negative when the visitors (North Melbourne Reserves) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

Essendon Reserves

Captain: Xavier O'Neill
Vice-Captain: Jackson Hately
Coach: Cameron Joyce

North Melbourne Reserves

Captain: unknown
Coach: Adam Marcon

Player Statistics

Essendon Reserves

#	Player	Pos.	ToG%	GL	BH	DI	KI	HB	MK	HO	TA	CL	CR	FF	FA	RF	IF
77	Bella, Will	INT	?	1	0	11	5	6	1	14	3	2	?	1	2	1	0
74	Binns, Jaxon	INT	?	0	0	26	20	6	5	0	3	1	?	0	0	3	2
13	Cox, Nik	HBFL	?	1	0	7	7	0	1	0	1	1	?	0	0	1	1
58	Eckersley, Jared	BPL	?	1	0	12	6	6	2	0	3	1	?	1	0	2	0
45	Edwards, Thomas	INT	?	5	0	16	8	8	6	0	2	2	?	1	1	1	1
80	Ferronato, Kristian	INT	?	0	0	20	12	8	4	0	2	2	?	1	0	0	4
69	Gallagher, Kieran	C	?	0	0	11	10	1	2	0	0	1	?	1	1	2	1
19	Gerreyn, Kayle	HBFR	?	0	0	16	14	2	7	0	1	0	?	0	1	4	1
50	Hately, Jackson (vc)	FPL	?	1	0	33	21	12	5	0	2	3	?	1	3	1	8
23	Jones, Harry	WL	?	0	2	6	5	1	3	0	0	0	?	0	0	0	0
67	Kitchell, Ty	INT	?	0	0	12	7	5	0	0	2	1	?	0	0	1	1
51	McKay, Solly	FF	?	0	0	16	9	7	4	0	0	1	?	0	0	3	4
48	McMahon, Liam	HFFR	?	0	0	4	0	4	1	0	1	0	?	0	2	0	1
71	Monteath, Lachlan	INT	?	0	0	15	8	7	3	22	1	3	?	0	2	0	7
42	Nguyen, Jayden	INT	?	0	1	14	3	11	3	0	1	2	?	0	3	0	0
65	Nyko, Cam	RO	?	0	0	25	13	12	8	0	2	2	?	2	0	2	1
55	O'Neill, Xavier (c)	FPR	?	0	0	27	16	11	4	0	7	1	?	1	1	5	1
14	Ridley, Jordan	INT	?	0	0	6	4	2	2	0	2	0	?	0	0	4	0
9	Robey, Sullivan	BPR	?	4	0	22	12	10	6	0	2	3	?	1	1	2	5
75	Sellers, Tyler	INT	?	0	0	7	6	1	5	0	2	0	?	0	1	4	1
5	Tsatas, Elijah	FB	?	0	0	34	19	15	2	0	6	10	?	3	0	3	5
59	Uerata, Dayten	CHB	?	1	0	20	10	10	6	0	2	1	?	2	0	0	3
38	Unwin, Rhys	WR	?	1	2	14	11	3	2	0	2	1	?	2	2	0	4
Rushed					3
Total (23 players)				15	8	374	226	148	82	36	47	38	0+	17	20	39	51

North Melbourne Reserves

#	Player	Pos.	ToG%	GL	BH	DI	KI	HB	MK	HO	TA	CL	CR	FF	FA	RF	IF
57	Bamert, Xavier	INT	?	2	0	12	9	3	4	0	2	2	?	1	2	0	3
72	Byrne, Hugh	INT	?	0	0	10	8	2	5	0	1	0	?	0	0	3	0
27	Darling, Jack	FPL	?	3	0	18	9	9	8	1	3	1	?	3	1	0	6
18	Dawson, Wil	FB	?	0	0	13	10	3	5	9	8	1	?	3	2	2	3
49	Dow, Thomson	INT	?	0	0	16	5	11	5	0	4	1	?	0	0	2	3
51	Fairlie, Patrick	RR	?	0	0	20	8	12	4	0	6	6	?	3	3	1	2
16	Fisher, Zac	WR	?	1	0	24	14	10	5	0	3	3	?	0	0	3	3
33	George, Brayden	FF	?	0	0	8	3	5	2	0	2	0	?	0	0	0	0
46	Hansen, Robert	HBFL	?	0	0	22	17	5	2	0	2	1	?	1	1	5	2
17	Hardeman, Riley	WL	?	0	0	16	9	7	2	0	1	2	?	1	0	0	1
37	Harvey, Cooper	HBFR	?	0	0	22	16	6	8	0	3	0	?	1	0	2	1
64	Keast, Mathew	INT	?	0	0	25	16	9	5	0	5	3	?	1	0	1	6
70	Lowe, Oliver	C	?	1	0	13	7	6	4	0	4	0	?	1	0	0	2
50	MacPherson, Darcy	CHF	?	1	1	30	15	15	8	0	2	6	?	0	1	2	3
59	Markovsky, Isaiah	FPR	?	0	1	13	9	4	4	0	2	0	?	1	0	0	2
28	Mikunda, Hugo	CHB	?	0	0	13	10	3	3	0	1	2	?	1	1	2	4
8	Scott, Bailey	BPR	?	0	0	23	15	8	2	0	3	1	?	1	2	5	4
13	Spargo, Charlie	HFFL	?	1	0	16	8	8	4	0	3	0	?	0	3	0	0
36	Stevens, River	HFFR	?	1	1	17	10	7	7	0	1	0	?	0	0	0	3
79	Tarrant, James	RU	?	0	0	17	7	10	3	14	1	2	?	1	0	0	0
80	Tomlinson, Adam	INT	?	0	0	19	16	3	6	0	1	0	?	1	0	5	2
74	Vandam, Oscar	RO	?	0	0	12	7	5	3	0	2	0	?	0	1	3	1
35	Whitlock, Matt	BPL	?	2	1	4	4	0	3	0	0	0	?	0	0	0	0
Rushed					3
Total (23 players)				12	7	383	232	151	102	24	60	31	0+	20	17	36	51

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Essendon Reserves							Coach: Cameron Joyce
BACK							FOLLOWER		INTERCHANGE
	35	M. Whitlock	18	W. Dawson	8	B. Scott	65	C. Nyko	77	W. Bella
	55	X. O'Neill (c)	51	S. McKay	50	J. Hately (vc)			74	J. Binns
FORWARD									45	T. Edwards
HALF-BACK									80	K. Ferronato
	46	R. Hansen	28	H. Mikunda	37	C. Harvey			67	T. Kitchell
	48	L. McMahon							71	L. Monteath
HALF-FORWARD									42	J. Nguyen
CENTRE									14	J. Ridley
	17	R. Hardeman	70	O. Lowe	16	Z. Fisher			75	T. Sellers
	38	R. Unwin	69	K. Gallagher	23	H. Jones	FOLLOWER		INTERCHANGE
CENTRE							79	J. Tarrant	57	X. Bamert
HALF-FORWARD							51	P. Fairlie	72	H. Byrne
	13	C. Spargo	50	D. MacPherson	36	R. Stevens	74	O. Vandam	49	T. Dow
	19	K. Gerreyn	59	D. Uerata	13	N. Cox			64	M. Keast
HALF-BACK									80	A. Tomlinson
FORWARD
	27	J. Darling	33	B. George	59	I. Markovsky
	9	S. Robey	5	E. Tsatas	58	J. Eckersley
BACK
North Melbourne Reserves							Coach: Adam Marcon

Score Timeline

Quarter	Team	Scoring Event	Score			Time
Q1	NMLR	Matt Whitlock behind	0.0.0	-	0.1.1	02:31
	NMLR	Zac Fisher goal	0.0.0	-	1.1.7	03:05
	NMLR	River Stevens behind	0.0.0	-	1.2.8	04:18
	NMLR	Matt Whitlock goal	0.0.0	-	2.2.14	06:41
	NMLR	Jack Darling goal	0.0.0	-	3.2.20	09:05
	NMLR	Jack Darling goal	0.0.0	-	4.2.26	10:59
	ESSR	Rhys Unwin goal	1.0.6	-	4.2.26	12:01
	ESSR	Rhys Unwin behind	1.1.7	-	4.2.26	16:31
	ESSR	Rushed behind	1.2.8	-	4.2.26	17:29
	ESSR	Jared Eckersley goal	2.2.14	-	4.2.26	21:41
	ESSR	Nik Cox goal	3.2.20	-	4.2.26	24:30
	ESSR	Will Bella goal	4.2.26	-	4.2.26	26:10
	ESSR	Sullivan Robey goal	5.2.32	-	4.2.26	28:31
Q2	ESSR	Sullivan Robey goal	6.2.38	-	4.2.26	00:47
	ESSR	Rhys Unwin behind	6.3.39	-	4.2.26	06:48
	NMLR	Matt Whitlock goal	6.3.39	-	5.2.32	10:26
	ESSR	Jackson Hately goal	7.3.45	-	5.2.32	11:34
	NMLR	Oliver Lowe goal	7.3.45	-	6.2.38	18:38
	NMLR	Xavier Bamert goal	7.3.45	-	7.2.44	22:22
	ESSR	Thomas Edwards goal	8.3.51	-	7.2.44	25:26
	NMLR	Darcy MacPherson goal	8.3.51	-	8.2.50	27:38
Q3	NMLR	Rushed behind	8.3.51	-	8.3.51	00:52
	ESSR	Thomas Edwards goal	9.3.57	-	8.3.51	05:21
	NMLR	Isaiah Markovsky behind	9.3.57	-	8.4.52	06:36
	NMLR	River Stevens goal	9.3.57	-	9.4.58	07:38
	ESSR	Rushed behind	9.4.58	-	9.4.58	10:02
	NMLR	Jack Darling goal	9.4.58	-	10.4.64	12:05
	NMLR	Darcy MacPherson behind	9.4.58	-	10.5.65	16:36
	ESSR	Sullivan Robey goal	10.4.64	-	10.5.65	20:32
	ESSR	Thomas Edwards goal	11.4.70	-	10.5.65	22:37
	ESSR	Sullivan Robey goal	12.4.76	-	10.5.65	26:19
	NMLR	Xavier Bamert goal	12.4.76	-	11.5.71	29:43
Q4	ESSR	Rushed behind	12.5.77	-	11.5.71	01:19
	NMLR	Charlie Spargo goal	12.5.77	-	12.5.77	01:49
	ESSR	Harry Jones behind	12.6.78	-	12.5.77	06:17
	ESSR	Thomas Edwards goal	13.6.84	-	12.5.77	09:50
	ESSR	Thomas Edwards goal	14.6.90	-	12.5.77	14:38
	ESSR	Harry Jones behind	14.7.91	-	12.5.77	15:59
	NMLR	Rushed behind	14.7.91	-	12.6.78	18:18
	ESSR	Jayden Nguyen behind	14.8.92	-	12.6.78	19:29
	NMLR	Rushed behind	14.8.92	-	12.7.79	24:01
	ESSR	Kieran Gallagher goal	15.8.98	-	12.7.79	25:16

Links

2026 VFL Season

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