Essendon gained some respite from their off-field nightmare with a morale-boosting AFL pre-season win over the Western Bulldogs.

The Bombers opened the NAB Cup on Friday night with a 26-point win over the Western Bulldogs in the first of three mini-games.

Essendon then had a break before playing Collingwood in the last game of the evening.

Star recruit Brendon Goddard had a team-high 13 possessions and Kyle Hardingham kicked the supergoal as the ‘Dons won 1.5.6 (45) to 1.1.4 (19).

Essendon’s defence was superb, the league’s oldest active player Dustin Fletcher and his young key-defender apprentice Jake Carlisle dominating.

There was plenty of applause for the Bombers as they took to the field, a welcome change from the intense media scrutiny of the past few days.

Essendon are under Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and AFL investigation because of supplements their players took last season.

The club was also implicated in the landmark Australian Crime Commission investigation into sport.

While the Bulldogs took the early initiative when Shaun Higgins kicked their supergoal, Essendon kicked the last two goals of the half to lead by 13 points.

They then kicked clear in the second half and first-year player Nick Kommer goaled seconds before the fulltime siren to add emphasis to the win.

Captain Matthew Boyd had a game-high 17 disposals for the Bulldogs and fellow midfielder Nick Lower also impressed in the first game for his third AFL club.