Round 7 – St Kilda Vs Melbourne – Saints Marched Off The Field
by Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour
Back to back wins for the Dees. How sweet it is. Even though St Kilda have only registered one win this season, they’ve looked dangerous at times and certainly gave GWS a scare.
The Saints opened aggressively and for the second week the Dees again seemed content to let the opposition come to them, judging their tactics. The first goal went to the Saints’ Jake Gresham before rising star Charlie Spargo opened the scoring for Melbourne. Each side traded points before Big Max Gawn marked and scored, this time in front of goal. Gawn has missed several, what must be considered easy chances, this season. He made no mistake this time however, when he slotted home the Dee’s second of the quarter.
Next up Jesse Hogan snapped a tidy goal to make it three for the Demons. Five minutes later Christian “the dog separator” Petracca scored his comeback goal at the end of a beautiful run of play from the Demons which started in their defensive 50. Great team effort! Unfortunately, Armitage scored for the Saints one minute later. Despite that effort, Melbourne were definitely dominating play with Neville Jetta and Angus Brayshaw showing how consistent their game has become. Also showing some consistency was Jesse Hogan who kicked his second to give the Demons a 14-point lead 17-31 at the end of the quarter.
The Dees started the second quarter looking confident. It seemed like captain Nathan Jones had kicked a beautiful goal on the run in the fifth minute but sadly it went wide for a behind. It wasn’t until the eleventh minute that the mighty Tom McDonald, who had been playing and marking superbly, got the first goal of the quarter. Then three minutes later Nathan Jones finally kicked the goal he deserved to put the Dees 25 points ahead. Alex Neal-Bullen, who looked promising in both quarters and made some good plays that didn’t quite succeed, then kicked a behind from a good position. A goal from the Saints’ Tim Membrey was sandwiched by another behind from Neal-Bullen. Finally, Melbourne added to their goal tally when Dom Tyson kicked what was to be the last six pointer of the quarter. Half time score was 26-54.
The Saints started the third quarter positively with two goals from Ben Long and Tim Membrey in the first five minutes. However, Hogan stepped up to steady the ship with his third goal. Then it seemed like every Melbourne player wanted to add their name to the score sheet. James Harmes put one away then Tom McDonald added a second for the day before Brayshaw got a richly deserved first goal. The Saint’s replied with a Luke Dunstan score. Sam Weideman increased the Dee’s margin before St Kilda’s Tom Hickey got the last goal of the quarter. Melbourne had stretched their lead to 36 points with the scores at 52-88.
At the start of the fourth, Melbourne looked determined to make the most of their win and increase their percentage on the ladder. Two goals from Weideman and Clayton Oliver (36 disposals for the game) in the first five minutes pushed Melbourne’s total to 100. When Alex Neal-Bullen scored in the twenty third minute it looked like a 50 plus winning margin for the Dees. Unfortunately our celebrations were premature as the Saints kicked two unanswered goals in the last five minutes to pull the scores back to 67-106.
Melbourne has continued to build on their good form of the last three rounds. The fact that Richmond is playing so well makes our effort in Round 5 all the more impressive. We will need to bring our best game to the Gabba next Saturday when we play Gold Coast. Take nothing for granted. The good news is the temperature will be milder than when we played the Lions. This should help us to keep a cool head under the Sun’s glare.
ST KILDA 2.5 – 3.8 – 7.10 – 9.13 (67)
MELBOURNE 5.1 – 8.6 – 13.10 – 16.10 (106)
GOALS
St Kilda: Membrey 2, Long 2, Armitage 2, Gresham, Dunstan, Hickey
Melbourne: Hogan 3, T. McDonald 2, Weideman 2, Spargo, Gawn, Petracca, Jones, Tyson, Harmes, Brayshaw, Oliver, Neal-Bullen
There aren’t many things better than beating “Essedon”……well maybe beating Collingwood….it’s a toss of the coin. I am sure they have some lovely supporters, I just haven’t met many. Take exhibit A – that mug that threw a barrage of abuse at Big Maxy over the fence on the weekend. I have written this before but I really don’t have time for supporters that can’t even pronounce the team they support correctly!
So an early Sunday morning start (10am Jakarta time) had me filled with anticipation and hope that we could deliver more heartache to ever deserving Dons supporters and turn around our season after the last 2 weeks of hiccups.
It is fair to say that the start was not the most inspiring of games. With only 3 goals in the first quarter and ourselves with one it appeared that our recent absence of scoring power would continue. The second quarter wasn’t much better but then “Essedon” did a Melbourne allowing 7 goals to 1 after the main break as the Dees treated their opponents like witches’ hats and we ended up cruising to a solid, and much needed 6 goal win.
There were many positives in the game, Big Maxy was dominate, TMac showed just how critical a player he is to our side. Not to be outdone his younger brother OMac blanketed the dangerous Daniher and our young forward line of Fritsch, Hannan and first gamer in Spargo were dangerous all day combining for 8 goals between them.
We are back at Docklands this Sunday against the Saints. They haven’t been in great form of late but they have been a side we have struggled to beat in the past. But it won’t happen this Sunday as we look for 2 wins in a row and climb back up the ladder where we belong.
LUKEY TAPSCOTT (Rnd 6)
Gawn 5
Salem 4
Hannan 3
Hibberd 2
O.MacDonald 1
ANB RISING STAR (Rnd 6)
Salem 5
Hannan 4
O.MacDonald 3
Fritsch 2
Spargo 1
LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADER BOARD (After Rnd 6)
Hogan 18
Gawn 15
Oliver 14
Petracca 12
Jones 8
Salem 6
Garlett 5
Melksham 4
Hannan 3
Hibberd 2
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1
ANB RISING STAR (After Rnd 6)
Hogan 22
Oliver 17
Petracca 15
Salem 11
Tyson 8
Fritsch 4
Hannan 4
Neal Bullen 3
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Harmes 1
Lever 1
Spargo 1
Hogan continues to lead both awards but with a quieter night from our key forward it has seen Big Maxy Gawn close the gap in the Lukey Tapscott.
Go Dees!
Round 6 – Essendon Vs Melbourne – Way of the Demons (or How to Answer Your Critics) – Max “Banana Kick” Gawn is adding to his folk legend status – Tom MacDonald showed what an asset he is to Melbourne – Spargo’s sparkling debut
Little by little Max “Banana Kick” Gawn is adding to his folk legend status. This week he channeled the great Eddie Betts when the big fellow put the Sherrin through the uprights from a seemingly impossible angle! Not once but twice! The second time he had some assistance from the sidelines in the shape of a helpful Essendon fan. They do say that the best revenge is kicking well. It looks like Max also picked up some tips from Eddie on how to handle idiot opposition fans.
At the start of the quarter, the Bombers looked determined to dominate a Melbourne side recovering from back to back defeats. They finally broke through the Demon defence in the 12th minute with a goal from Smith. The Dees got their first five minutes later when Mitch Hannan slotted one home, ably assisted by Christian Salem. However Essendon extended their lead when McDonald-Tipungwuti added his impressive moniker to the score sheet. The first quarter was a low scoring affair at 15-9 but Melbourne looked composed and had soaked up some intense Essendon pressure.
Melbourne got the perfect start to the second quarter when new recruit Charlie Spargo kicked his first of the game after the Dees dominated in the opening minutes.
The Demons didn’t have it all their own way though as the Bombers kicked two unanswered goals from Laverde and Stewart. Tom MacDonald showed what an asset he is to Melbourne, intercepting and marking like he’d never been away. Unfortunately the next goal was scored by the Bomber’s Jake Stringer. Not to be outdone, Charlie Spargo got his second, showing no debutant nerves. After a series of one pointers, Mitch Hannan kicked his second of the afternoon, giving the Demon faithful something more to cheer about. The first half ended 37-31, the same margin as the first quarter.
Jesse Hogan had looked out of sorts for most of the game but that didn’t stop him kicking his first of the afternoon, from a 50 metre penalty. Tom McDonald didn’t want to be left out and slotted the first of his comeback game two minutes later. The Dees were in front for the first time in the match. Then the moment came when Max Gawn showed what a versatile player he has become by kicking a perfect banana bender into the Essendon goal. Again, this was followed up two minutes later with a goal from Bayley Fritsch, making it six in a row from Melbourne.
The sight of Jesse Hogan crumbling on his ankle was not good and he limped off for treatment. Whether this had an affect on the Dee’s momentum is hard to say but the goal run eased off for awhile until Fritsch decided he wanted more and kicked his second. Stringer then got his second for the Bombers a couple of minutes later to finally end Melbourne’s run of seven unanswered goals. Then we had the infamous moment when an Essendon fan had some choice words for Big Max. Undeterred, Gawn repeated his feat from earlier in the quarter and went on a second bender. His look to the distraught Bomber’s fan was worth a thousand words. Last week’s goal hero Jake Melksham opened his account a few minutes before three quarter time and Melbourne went in leading the Bombers by nineteen at 57-76.
The final quarter was initially nearly all Melbourne with Mitch Hannan opening the scoring and Jesse Hogan (looking much better) getting his second goal. Tom McDonald then got his second before the other McDonald (as in Tipungwuti) also added a second. It was definitely a quarter for seconds when Jake Melksham also doubled his score. It wasn’t all Melbourne though as a flurry of goals to Smith, Stringer and Zaharakis jangled a few Demon nerves. A last minute goal from Bayley Fritsch helped to settle them down again.
This was definitely Melbourne fighting back. The captain Nathan Jones was outstanding, even though he didn’t get on the scoreboard. Neville Jedda and Christian Salem were also superb throughout. I’m definitely looking forward to how we fare against St Kilda next weekend. The Saints drew against the Giants last week so we definitely cannot take them for granted.
ESSENDON 2.3 5.7 6.9 10.12 (72)
MELBOURNE 1.3 4.7 11.10 16.12 (108)
GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 3, McDonald-Tipungwuti 2, Smith 2, Laverde, Stewart, Zaharakis
Melbourne: Hannan 3, Fritsch 3, Spargo 2, Gawn 2, Hogan 2, T McDonald 2, Melksham 2
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