Round 10, 1925
Melbourne vs Essendon
Saturday 11 July
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 22,872
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.1 | 6.2 | 7.3 | 8.7.55 |
| Essendon | 1.1 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 5.8.38 |
Melbourne win by 17 points
Goalkickers: Harry Moyes 3, Stan Wittman 2, Harry Davie 1, Col Deane 1, Gerry Donnelly 1
Milestones:
First Goal
Gerry Donnelly (10th game)
On the wettest and coldest day of the season to date, the Fuschias jumped out of the blocks and held off Essendon for the next three quarters to take the four points.
A big crowd still turned up despite the terrible conditions, and despite the conditions which should have suited Essendon's smaller players Melbourne's heavyweights took control in the first quarter. With much of the crowd huddled under the stands, a bitterly cold wind to the Punt Road end and brought with it one drenching shower during the afternoon. The game was played on an awful service, with the middle of the ground nothing more than a quagmire. In the circumstances, and despite a 58-35 free kick advantage to Essendon it was a surprisingly high quality game.
With the breeze in the first quarter Melbourne countered an early Dons attack to score a goal with their first attack of the game. With rain falling Essendon's thrusts forward were more often than not turned back by the Fuschias' defence and the home side kicked four goals to take a comfortable lead into the first break.
Essendon cut the gap in the second term but couldn't get close enough to make it interesting. Melbourne could have done even better if not for hurried missed shots on goal.
In the third quarter the visitors did a great job at trying to save the game while kicking into the breeze. Both defences were keeping their sides from conceding goals, but the home team were the first to concede. Essendon's three point lead lasted until a string of passes from one end of the ground to the other ended with Davie who scored Melbourne's seventh goal.
The margin going into the last term was nine points, and it took several minutes for Essendon to make the first score of the quarter when they kicked a point. They looked the likely winners early in the term before Melbourne regrouped and forced them back. Despite a missed easy chance by Dunbar they eventually kicked the sealer through Wittman to extended the margin to 15 points with a few minutes left.
Warne-Smith, Thomas and Donnelly were Melbourne's best.
Seconds
Essendon 14.20.104 d. Melbourne 6.12.48
Media
Argus - 13/07/1925
Football Record R11 1925