Saturday August 25 - Melbourne Ground
Crowd - 7000
Melbourne 2.3
Carlton 2.7 (half time 0.1-2.5)
Match drawn
Goalkickers: John Booth 1, James McDonald 1
With Melbourne having pulled out of their poor mid-season form the match attracted a big crowd, and for the first time the Yarra Park 'ground' was enclosed by a fence, keeping spectators from spilling onto the ground and ruining the play. That innovation wasn't matched by the surface of the ground, rough and gravelly, helped raise the temperature of the players and leading to some rough exchanges.
Having suffered two heavy defeats at the hands of the Blues already during the season, Melbourne's task was made harder when Carlton won the toss and elected to kick with the wind. Shortly after the start of the match Johnson ran into Donovan of Carlton and suffered a broken collarbone, forcing him to withdraw from the match and leaving Melbourne a player short.
Robertson of Carlton raised the ire of the crowd with his tactics of getting in the way of the ball during ball-ups. Despite the new fencing around the ground the fans still found a way to make their feelings known. Carlton missed a handful of chances and the match remained scoreless through the first half-hour. It took Carlton until just after the 40 minute mark to get their first goal, Henry running into an open goal after the Reds defence fell apart. Not long after Carlton got their second after Robertson attempted to kick to a player in front of goal but instead found his shot dribbled through.
Down two goals at half time Melbourne kicked with the aid of the wind in the second period. They bounced out of the blocks and immediately threatened the Carlton goal, but the tight Blue defence kept them out and rebounded to the other end on several occassions. With half an hour to go though, Booth scored for Melbourne to keep the game alive after a pass from Ted Barrass.
With 15 minutes to go the ball landed in a tree, and with no player able to climb the tree fans were forced to try and dislodge the ball with stones. Just when it looked like the game might have to be called off one of the players managed to score a direct hit. When the match restarted MacDonald won a free kick in the middle of the ground, kicked it to Cooper, took the ball back and goalled from 65 yards to tie the match. The match ended immediately afterwards, with Melbourne having fought back despite being a player down for almost all of the match.
Notes
Some sources give the crowd as 5000-6000
Media
Argus - 27/08/1877
Weekly Times - 01/09/1877
Australasian - 01/09/1877
Argus - 03/09/1877