As sweet as the win was, it was team spirit that pleased West Coast coach John Worsfold the most after watching his AFL side hold off a fast-finishing Essendon to post a 10-point victory at Subiaco Oval.

The Eagles cruised to a 38-point half-time lead but, as West Coast's injury toll rose and Essendon's attack on the footy increased, it seemed the Bombers would most likely to run away with the victory.

Essendon closed to within ten points on three occasions during the final term but, with Ashley Hansen (ankle) watching on from the bench and David Wirrpanda (corked buttock) and Jamie McNamara (corked thigh) forced into battle on one leg, the Eagles bravely held on to triumph 17.11 (113) to 18.7 (103).

"It was pretty tough," Worsfold said.

"Certainly losing a couple of players and a few that were sore ... we had to keep rotating and even getting McNamara to see if he could give us three or four more minutes to give another player a rest.

"And to go on and really battle through that, for a young player like that is outstanding.

"He didn't question it. He was putting his hand up saying 'I can go out and have a go, I'm about 80 per cent'.

"That (sort of spirit from the team) is what you always want to see and I think there's been a couple of games this year where we haven't seen it. This is what we expect now and this is what should be the norm and what we aim for.

"It's really just the players being able to look each other in the eye and say 'we did what we expect from each other'."

Eagles youngster Ben McKinley was the star of the show with a career-high seven goals while Quinten Lynch, who has reinvented himself in recent weeks as a big-bodied on-baller, continued his stellar form with 24 possessions and 11 inside-50s.

A couple of old timers in Michael Braun (29 possessions) and Chad Fletcher (27 touches) were also crucial in the win.

Braun's goal at the 18-minute mark of the final term, when the retiring 30-year-old bravely launched himself at a loose ball in the middle of the ground, took two bounces and then kicked truly from 45m, brought a smile to Worsfold's face.

"Great things happen when you attack the footy and sometimes things open up for you," Worsfold said.

"You've just got to have that desire and it's great to see a player who's only got a few games left in him still wanting to do that for the team."

Essendon coach Matthew Knights conceded the loss, which leaves the Bombers two games and percentage adrift of the top eight, had all but ended the club's finals aspirations.

"I would have thought 12 wins would have to get you into the eight and we are sitting on eight at the moment with only three games to go, so it does look extremely unlikely," Knights said.

"We played some very average football in the first half.

"Our intensity around the ball wasn't good, I thought their midfield really cleaned us up early in the game . . . I thought our defenders were also on the back foot and were led to the ball."

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.

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