Swans coach John Longmire said it was a combination of ‘little things’ which saw the momentum shift Essendon’s way in the final term on Saturday night.

After leading the match by as many as 48 points in the last quarter, the Swans were outscored by the Bombers nine goals to two to win by just four points.

Longmire said it was a series of small errors which allowed the Bombers back into the game in the final term.

 “It was a combination of a few little things. One little thing here and one little thing there, or even something like not standing in the right spot at a stoppage or missing a tackle or giving away a free kick (could have contributed to it),” he said.

“Just little things that add up to a big thing over 30 minutes, and that’s always the case in a game because it’s the little things that win you games…and the little you don’t do right that could lose you games.

“We just made a few little mistakes in the last quarter which combined to mean that we gave them a real chance to win the game.”

The coach said he was not surprised the Bombers fought back late in Saturday night’s gave, given their recent form.

“I know that Essendon are one of the best momentum teams in the AFL and if you looked at their stats going into last week’s game they were outstanding,” he said.

But despite the close call for the Swans this weekend, Longmire said he was thrilled with his team’s effort to fight out the win after three quality quarters of football.

“(Essendon) hit the scoreboard and got their tails up and as disappointed as we were and after a couple of things had happened, I thought we did a couple of good things that allowed us to get two goals, which in the end was the difference between winning and losing,” he said.

“It was just terrific to beat a side that prior to the weekend was on top of the ladder and in really good form on their home ground, in front of a big crowd,” he said.

“For the players’ confidence levels, they got a lot out of it.

“I thought particularly in our first three quarters, our pressure skills and to have 90 tackles while still playing some really good, exciting football was really good.”

Saturday night’s win secured the Swans an 8-3 winning record heading into the bye round this weekend.

The win over Essendon was the club’s first top-four scalp for the season, and has elevated the Swans the top of the table, pending results from the remainder of the round.

Longmire said he was happy with the Swans’ position at the midway point of the season.

 “We’re really pleased with our first half,” he said.

“We had a couple of hiccups and a couple of performances that we would have liked to be a bit stronger but in general over the 11 games we’ve been pleased with the players’ commitment and what they’ve been able to do to this point.

“Hopefully that gives us a good launching pad for the second half of the year and we’ll be able to really rest up this week and come back Friday week against the Cats in what will be a huge game for us.”