West Coast all but ended Essendon's finals aspirations with an upset 10-point AFL victory over the Bombers at Subiaco Oval.

The Eagles led by 38 points at halftime but were far from comfortable in the second half as the Bombers made their move.

Essendon reduced the gap to 10 points on three separate occasions in a frantic final term, but a career-high seven-goal haul to Eagles youngster Ben McKinley was enough to get the Eagles over the line, 17.11 (113) to 16.7 (103).

Quinten Lynch continued his impressive form as a big-bodied midfielder with 24 possessions and 11 inside-50s, while David Wirrpanda was dangerous early and finished with three goals.

Eagles tagger Adam Selwood (23 possessions, two goals), Michael Braun, Chad Fletcher, Jamie McNamara and Ryan Davis were others to impress, while Dean Cox (21 possessions, 36 hit-outs) won the crucial ruck battle against Essendon's David Hille.

Andrew Lovett was important in Essendon's fightback and finished with 26 possessions and a goal, while skipper Matthew Lloyd kicked three goals after a quiet start and Jobe Watson, Andrew Welsh and Courtenay Dempsey collected plenty of the ball.

The loss leaves Essendon two games and percentage adrift of the top eight, meaning even if they win their remaining three games of the season - against Adelaide, Western Bulldogs and St Kilda - they still may fall short of securing a finals berth.

Essendon kicked with a strong breeze in the opening term but it was the Eagles who made the most of the conditions as McKinley and Wirrpanda popped up for two goals apiece to give the home side a handy 19-point advantage at quarter time.

With Lynch, McNamara, Braun, Fletcher and Selwood controlling the centre corridor and Mark Nicoski, Beau Wilkes, Darren Glass and Matt Spangher holding down key posts in defence, the Eagles continued their dominance in the second term

McKinley reaped the rewards of his teammates' good work, kicking two goals within the space of a minute midway through the quarter, including a spectacular grubber goal from the boundary line, to help extend West Coast's advantage to 38 points at the long break.

The Bombers hit back hard in the third term as Lloyd came to life and Dustin Fletcher won some important one-on-one duels against McKinley, with the margin just 20 points at the final change.

But Essendon's brave fightback failed to daunt Lynch, who shrugged off a tackle from Lloyd with a 360-degree spin before unleashing from 55m to nail the all important opening goal of the final quarter.

It was just a taste of things to come in the last quarter that saw 12 goals kicked in total and plenty of highlights.

The Bombers closed the gap to 10 points at the 23-minute mark, 27-minute mark and 32-minute mark of the final term but it was as close as they could get, with the home side remaining cool under pressure to secure the win.

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