Essendon vs Melbourne
Saturday 18 June
Venue: East Melbourne
Attendance: 6000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Essendon | 1.2 | 2.4 | 5.5 | 6.5 |
| Melbourne | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 2.9 |
Essendon win by 4 goals
Goalkickers: Carnegie 1, Dodds 1
After three encouraging performances in a row Melbourne hit the wall with a heavy defeat on the nearby East Melbourne ground.
The ground was heavy on account of recent rain, but with no wind to speak of neither team had the advantage. Both sides had six shots on goal in the first half, but poor conversion by Melbourne cost them dearly. Essendon's first goal came within four minutes of the start but Melbourne didn't respond until the last quarter.
The second goal came within two of minutes of the start of the second quarter, and as the ground started to become slippery Melbourne wasted another three shots on goal without registering a major. The ball also became heavy, confining much of the play to the ground. Dodds missed a chance on goal from a free kick when the ball touched the inside of the post and Melbourne remained two behind at half time.
On resuming play Essendon made sure of victory with three straight goals, and in near darkness with most players covered with mud during the last quarter they had their only winning patch of the day. Essendon got the first of the last quarter before two consolations to Carnegie and Dodds within a minute.
Best were King, Brown and Griffiths.
Media
Australasian - 25/06/1887