Melbourne have survived an almighty scare from the bottom-of-the table North Melbourne, beating the Kangaroos 11.4 (70) to North’s 10.7 (67)
Despite trailing by 33 points at the final break, North stormed home with five unanswered goals in the last quarter to give Simon Goodwin’s side the fright of their life.
The Demons were scoreless in the all-important last quarter, in a match that could well have ended their season with a loss.
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Jack Viney finished with 25 disposals and 19 contested possessions, proving a beast around the contest in what was potentially a match-defining impact.
For the Kangaroos, Harry Sheezel kicked two goals from his 27 disposals and 624 metres gained in another superb effort from the young gun.
North Melbourne finished the match +71 in the disposal count, +8 for contested possessions and +7 in the clearances – a show of their dominance in important aspects of the game.
THE 3-2-1 …
3. STAR ‘STEPS INTO PETRACCA’S SHOES’ TO AID DEMONS’ ESCAPE
Melbourne narrowly escaped North Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night, with its eighth win of the season coming in a time of significant need for the club — particularly with superstar Christian Petracca sidelined for the remainder of the season.
The Demons entered having lost four of their past five matches, desperately seeking a victory to stay ahead of the chasing finals pack — and they got it, extending their winning streak over the Kangaroos to six matches.
Entering Saturday night, the Demons had a worse points-from-turnover differential (-23.8) than the Kangaroos (-19.6) in the past five weeks — but they pounced on North’s errors at the MCG.
And, in the absence of Petracca, it was a pre-eminent Demons gun who stood tall to deliver a classy midfield performance — and they needed every bit of it for a crucial four premiership points.
“Jack Viney has had eight clearances for himself for Melbourne tonight,” three-time Richmond premiership forward Jack Riewoldt told Fox Footy at half-time.
“No Petracca, and you go ‘who’s going to come in and grab the opportunity?’ Well, it’s one of the stars that’s already been there.
“He’s really stood up. He had 11 possessions in the first half — all contested — that’s no surprise for Jack Viney, is it?
“The shoes are there to be filled, and Jack Viney stepped into Christian Petracca’s shoes.”
Viney finished with 25 disposals — a staggering 19 of which were contested — to go along with a game-high 12 clearances, six tackles and six inside-50s.
Saturday night represented Melbourne’s first full game without Petracca, while wingman Jack Billings was omitted on Thursday night.
Viney’s efforts were especially required as Oliver received opposition attention from young Roo Will Phillips.
“Will Phillips has done an amazing job on Clayton Oliver — really restricted his output in the first half,” Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson noted at half-time.
Kynan Brown, a rookie draft selection last year and the son of 146-game Demon Nathan, made his AFL debut as the starting substitute.
2. ROOS’ RESURGENCE NOT ENOUGH IN (ANOTHER) GALLANT LOSS
After a heartbreaker against Collingwood last Sunday, it was another gallant defeat for the Roos on Saturday night.
Alastair Clarkson’s side, trailing by 33 points at three-quarter-time, booted five unanswered goals in the final term to send shivers down Melbourne spines — with the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel and the returning Jy Simpkin running rampant in the fourth stanza.
Davies-Uniacke finished with a game-high 31 disposals (nine in the fourth quarter), 17 contested possessions, eight clearances and a goal.
However, a few ‘almost’ moments in the waning seconds saw North Melbourne fall agonisingly short for the second consecutive week.
The Roos started the game inauspiciously, conceding five of the game’s first six goals and unable to find any fluency with their offensive movement.
At half-time, Riewoldt noticed a change between North’s first and second periods as it trailed by 15 points.
“I think we’ve seen a couple of different offensive game-styles from the Kangaroos,” Riewoldt identified at half-time.
“(They took) 30 marks in the first quarter, they were trying to control the ball, they were going lateral a lot and really stifling themselves in the way they moved the ball — and they weren’t able to score.
“Last week, when they (scored) eight goals in the first quarter against Collingwood, it was free-flowing ball movement, Nick Larkey was able to get in the game … and we started to see that in patches in that second quarter when they started to challenge Melbourne’s defence.
“They started to move it forward — (we) saw a couple of easy goals out the back there … certainly, North is hanging around.”
Johnson added: “What North Melbourne was able to do was just stop the effect of Melbourne going forward.”
“Then, off turnover, they actually gave themselves some really good opportunities, North Melbourne — 2.5 for the quarter, so they had seven shots themselves.
“That’s their assessment at half-time. They’ve got the game, I think, pretty much back on (an) even term — now it’s what they can do to respond in this third quarter.”
The Demons blew their lead out to a match-high 39 points late in the third quarter, but after that point, the game turned.
Entering tonight, the Roos had the AFL’s fourth-best clearance differential (+4.6) in the past five weeks, and they doubled the Dees’ tally in the fourth quarter — 12 to six — to seriously jeopardise Melbourne’s winning position.
In the end, though, Clarkson’s brave brigade again couldn’t finish the job in the clutch moments.
North’s last win over Melbourne at the MCG was in 2017.
1. BAFFLING 50M PENALTY POSES QUESTIONS FOR AFL
An eyebrow-raising incident caught the attention of onlookers in the first quarter, with further questions now being raised on officiating in the league.
With the Demons off to a strong start in the opening term, the Kangaroos would welcome any luck that came their way to help break the opposition’s momentum.
And while they were unable to convert from it, a 50-metre penalty in favour of North left viewers stunned – with the end distance looking close to 20 metres longer than what it should have been.
With Demons star Clayton Oliver not returning the ball back to Luke Davies-Uniacke in a sufficient amount of time, the on-baller was penalised for his ill-discipline.
Subsequently, Davis-Uniacke ran as far as he was asked by the umpires in-zone, which led to the man-on-the-mark from Melbourne being moved exactly 70.3 metres.
The decision left Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson in complete disbelief at quarter time on Fox Footy’s coverage.
“It’s actually ridiculous now that a 50-metre penalty in our game is becoming 70 (metres) … it’s wrong!” Johnson fumed.
The 364-gamer built on his views post-game, with serious questions for the competition’s leaders on where to is next on the issue.
“I want an explanation, I honestly do, now – because I’m totally confused as to when 70-metre penalties have come into our game of football,” Johnson added.
“You look at where Clayton Oliver gives away the 50-metre penalty from – look where the umpire sets the mark at the end of this (penalty).
“Steve McBurney, Laura Kane, please call me during the week and let me know why 70-metre penalties have come into our game – that penalty is ridiculous, it looks ridiculous, and it has to stop right now.
“I need to know; the competition needs to know … (it’s) completely wrong.”
MELBOURNE vs. NORTH MELBOURNE — AS IT HAPPENED
There were no late changes for either side, with debutant Kynan Brown (Demons) and Dylan Stephen (Kangaroos) the substitutes.
Kysaiah Pickett opened the scorecard on multiple fronts for Melbourne, missing an early shot before making amends not long after with a snap around the body.
Young gun Harry Sheezel fired back not long after however, snapping amongst congestion from close range to give the Roos life early in the contest.
Tom McDonald and Daniel Turner kicked goals in quick succession to give the Demons an early 13-point lead.
Kade Chandler kicked a quick goal on the run for his first of the night, before Harrison Petty converted a much-needed goal to extend his side’s lead out to four goals with three minutes to go before quarter time.
At the first break, the scorecard read: Melbourne 5.2 (32) leading North Melbourne 1.2 (8).
Young gun Koltyn Tholstrup was electric early for the Demons, while Harry Sheezel and Aidan Corr were the main ball-winners for the Kangaroos.
It was a very slow start to the second quarter on the scoreboard, with the first goal of the term not coming until the 16th minute through Cam Zurhaar.
The Kangaroos were wasteful in front of goal, with Eddie Ford missing a crucial shot after flying high.
Trent Rivers replied with a cracking goal eight minutes later, dashing through the 50 metre arc with pace and precision.
Jy Simpkin kicked truly from a set shot with a minute and a half to go in the half, trimming the margin back down to 16 points.
The Kangaroos were well and truly in it at the half, trailing the Demons by 15 points.
The scorecard read: Melbourne 6.4 (40) leading North Melbourne 3.7 (25).
Harry Sheezel (12 disposals, one goal) and George Wardlaw (13 disposals, four clearances) were impactful for the Roos, while Tom Sparrow (11 disposals, four tackles) stepped up well for the Demons.
Tagger Will Phillips has tagged Clayton Oliver very well so far, holding him to just five disposals – with the star Melbourne midfielder also giving away four free kicks.
Turner kicked his second of the match to kickstart the second half for Melbourne, before a stunning Luke Davies-Uniacke goal on the run nullified the Demons’ early goal.
Alex Neal-Bullen kicked Melbourne’s second for the term with just under nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, keeping North Melbourne at bay.
Midfielder Tom Sparrow pushed out the margin to a game-high 27 points, before teammates Jacob van Rooyen and captain Max Gawn kicked back-to-back goals to hurt North’s chances.
After 12 minutes without an inside 50, Cam Zurhaar converted from a rare entry to bring the margin down to 33 points with three minutes to play before the final break.
At three-quarter time, the scoreboard read: Melbourne 11.4 (70) leading North Melbourne 5.7 (37).
Max Gawn (14 disposals, 21 hitouts, one goal) and Tristan Xerri (15 disposals, 15 hitouts, nine clearances) have battled hard against each other all night, and both been impactful for their respective sides.
The Roos started the last quarter hot, as Zurhaar kicked his third for the night in the first 78 seconds of the term.
And not long after, a 50 metre penalty allowed Eddie Ford to kick his first for the night and keep Melbourne fans on their toes with still nearly a full quarter to play.
Around the halfway mark of the last, Harry Sheezel leaped to mark deep inside 50, before converting his snap to bring North’s deficit down to just 15 points.
Eddie Ford played on from advantage after a Zurhaar free kick deep inside their forward 50, bringing the margin down to nine points and kicking the Roos’ fourth goal in a row!
Zurhaar snapped truly for his fourth with 3:45 on the clock, sending Roos fans into hysterics as they trailed by just three points in the dying stages of the match.
Unfortunately for the Roos, a dropped mark from Davies-Uniacke in the dying seconds meant there was no more shots on goal for the royal blue and white, and finished valiant in defeat by three points.
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