Essendon ensured James Hird could bid a fond farewell to Sydney, the Bombers earning an upset one-point victory over the Swans at the SCG.

Hird stated this week that Saturday night's match would be his last in the harbour city and the former skipper produced an inspiring final term to help the visitors to a nail-biting 11.8 (74) to 11.7 (73) triumph.

Essendon appeared set for a far more comfortable victory when Mark McVeigh put them 14 points in front late in the match, but the Swans kicked consecutive goals to close to within two points.

Amon Buchanan then just failed to secure an unlikely win, shaving the post with a snap in the dying seconds to create the final margin.

The umpires required some hefty security off the ground as the home crowd voiced their displeasure at their performance.

On a stand-out night for veteran Bombers, Dustin Fletcher and Mal Michael were superb in defence while Matthew Lloyd kicked three goals as a resurgent Essendon won their third straight game to move 6-4 for the season.

The Swans meanwhile have slipped to 5-5 and face a tricky away trip to face Hawthorn at the MCG next week.

Sydney produced a strong second term for a two-point lead at halftime and kicked the only goal of the third quarter as they appeared odds-on to claim the home win.

But the Bombers dug deep in the final quarter, kicking the first three goals of the term and just hanging on to secure a significant victory.

In the early stages it seemed Essendon were on track for a far more comfortable triumph.

The Bombers exploded out of the blocks, kicking four straight goals in the opening 10 minutes before the Swans had come anywhere near opening their account.

Nic Fosdike came off the bench to finally kick Sydney's first, but Mark Bolton responded to maintain Essendon's advantage.

But after a scrappy start the Swans steadied late in the term, goals to Sean Dempster and a sublime effort from Nick Davis leaving the home side trailing by 11 points at quarter-time.

The Swans worked their way back into the contest with an outstanding finish to the half, with Davis, Paul Bevan, Adam Schneider and O'Loughlin slamming in four unanswered goals to give the home side a two-point edge at the main break.

But in a tight second half, the Bombers had just enough fuel in the tank to scrape home by the smallest of margins.

Sydney coach Paul Roos couldn't hide his frustration.

"It's difficult, all losses are hard. It's certainly up there in the more frustrating category," he said.

"Immediately after the game your emotions fluctuate a bit, but there's nothing you can do about it. You just move on."

Counterpart Kevin Sheedy was understandably thrilled with his young side, which was able to withstand every Sydney surge.

"We've got a team that's blending together gradually, it was a terrific effort to come and win," he said.

"We shouldn't have let them come up into the game really, to be honest, we were well over two goals in front.

"And it was a great effort from the Swans to come back and nearly pinch the game, which would've been really disappointing.

"Look we've won our two away games this year, it's been an enormous turnaround.

"To win the game is a really pleasing aspect of the season for us."

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