Round 10, 2012
Essendon vs Melbourne
Saturday June 2
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 49,987
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Essendon | 1.5 | 2.9 | 5.13 | 6.16.52 |
| Melbourne | 1.2 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 8.10.58 |
Melbourne win by 6 points
Goalkickers: Colin Garland 2, Mitch Clark 1, Jeremy Howe 1, Nathan Jones 1, Brent Moloney 1, Cale Morton 1, Colin Sylvia 1
Brownlow Votes
3 - Jack Watts
1 - Daniel Nicholson
Milestones:
First win as coach
Mark Neeld (10th game)
Sent in as heavy underdogs at 0-9 against a team who had suffered just one loss by one point the Demons pulled off the upset of the season.
In greasy conditions Essendon's disposal efficiency dropped off, and combined with their wasteful kicking for goal they kept Melbourne in the game despite an overwhelming lead in the inside 50 count.
It looked as if the Bombers were going to run away with the game when they opened up a 15 point lead in the third quarter, but Melbourne steadied and coupled with more absymal goalkicking by the Bombers they got within two kicks at three quarter time thanks to a late Mitch Clark goal.
Another easy miss to open the last quarter cost the Bombers as they conceded thge next three goals, two to makeshift forward Colin Garland who had been sent forward by Neeld as an experiment due to the lack of tall targets up front. Garland's goals put Melbourne in front, and then extended the lead to 11 points before Essendon hit back.
Garland had two more chances to seal the match, including one from a set shot 20m in front on almost no angle but the Demons held on for a famous victory.
With the inclusion of two new teams into the competition it ranked statistically as the biggest upset in VFL/AFL history.
Jones, Watts and Grimes were best.
Lynden Dunn replaced Sam Blease in the third quarter after Blease had suffered a groin injury.
Cale Morton was a late replacement for Rohan Bail.
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