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Melbourne wins by six goals but fails to show top-five style I
MELBOURNE: Melbourne
hung on to its hopes of securing the
vital double chance in this year's
Australian Football League finals
scries with a 26-point win over
Richmond at VFL Park yesterday.
The top three teams get two
chances to reach the final; the other
two get one.
In a game that failed to reach
any great heights, Melbourne held
a 22-point lead at half time before
running out the winner 12.14 (86)
to 7.8(50).
Despite the six-goal margin,
Melbourne's performance did not
resemble that of a top-five side
playing one of the league's bottom
combinations.
To be fair, the wet conditions
and poor umpiring played a part in
ensuring the match never devel
oped into a spectacle.
However, the Demons missed a
perfect opportunity to add polish
to their team work before compet
ing in the finals.
Melbourne finally broke away
from the Tigers in the last quarter
when they kicked three goals to
none, with Garry Lyon posting
two. Playing at full forward, Lyon
was the' Demons' leading goal
kicker with four, while Stephen
Tingay was busy around the packs,
kicking three goals.
Melbourne's coach, John North
ey, said his side had had a big build
up to last week's game against the
West Coast Eagles and was proba
bly suffering a bit of a let down.
"It was a bit of a flat win, let's
say, but it was still by six goals,"
Northeysaid.
Richmond's coach, Kevin Bart
lctt, was not too disappointed with
the loss and believed his side had
given themselves a good chance of
winning. He would not be drawn
into commenting on the umpiring
but, with Melbourne awarded 42
free kicks to Richmond's 28, the
Tiger camp would not have been
too happy.
"We had a number of players
that had their hearts torn out to
day," Bartlett said. "We were in it
all day, wc just had too many
against us."
He said the ground surface had
been very heavy and the game had
been a slog all day. He praised the
efforts of veteran ruckman David
Cloke, who was in great form and
showed his younger team mates
the way to attack the football.
Cloke had 25 possessions and
collected 11 marks, while his battle
with opponent Jim Stynes in the
ruck was one of the game's few
highlights. Cloke spent much of the
game across the half-back line and
foiled many of the Demons' for
ward thrusts.
He was ably supported by 19
year-old Matthew Francis, who in
only his fifth game took seven
marks and had 20 kicks.
One sad note for Melbourne
supporters was the injury of Brian
Wilson late in the game. He tore a
hamstring and, with the likelihood
of missing at least three weeks, he
announced his retirement.
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