Saturday 17 May - MCG
Crowd - 2000
Melbourne 2
South Melbourne 0 (half time 0-0)
Melbourne win by 2 goals
Goalkickers: Upton 1, Lempriere 1
With the turf in perfect condition thanks to sheep having grazed on it during the week, Melbourne took on the newest senior side in the VFA and won unconvincingly.
The two sides failed to score during the first half, but it wasn't for a lack of chances. Melbourne kicked several more behinds than the visitors but were unable to convert that into a major, and had several other attacks defused by the South defence. Their best chance was through Bob Sillett, whose 70 yard shot just fell short.
After the two sides traded behinds in the second half the scoring was eventually opened by Upton. Lempriere got the second, but more chances were spurned by Cook and Sillett who miscalculated the effect of the wind.
McKenzie, Bennie and Boys were best.
Selected team
Bennie, Birtwhistle, Boys, W. Cook, Crohan, Fairbairn, Flynn, Lamrock, E. Longden, W. Longden, MacDonald, A. McKie, McKenzie, Oakley, Power, Sherard, Sillett, Simson, Upton, Waldron. Emergency - Harrison
Media
Herald - 16/05/1879
Argus - 17/05/1879
Australasian - 24/05/1879
Australasian - 24/05/1879