Round 12, 1963
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 27 July
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 55,060
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.6 | 6.8 | 9.12 | 14.14.98 |
| St. Kilda | 2.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 5.9.39 |
Melbourne win by 59 points
Goalkickers: Barrie Vagg 4, Barry Bourke 3, Ken Emselle 2, Ron Barassi 1, Ray Groom 1, Tassie Johnson 1, John Lord 1, John Townsend 1
Milestones:
Nil
Having displaced the Saints from fourth place a week earlier thanks to a superior percentage, the Demons did even more damage to their opponent's finals chances with a siren-to-siren victory of nearly ten goals, a fifth in a row that gave them breathing space in the race for the top four.
The game started later than scheduled due to a broken leg to a St Kilda reserves player in the third quarter of the Reserves game, making it run longer and push back the start of the seniors. Ron Barassi won the toss and kicked with the slight advantage of a crosswind blowing across the MCG.
In what was meant to be a clash between contenders the home side had a superior system to their opponents, and in contrast the Saints players appeared to have a case of nerves. Melbourne's speed was superior, led by Brian Dixon on the wing. Early both sides were nervous and slowed by a number of fumbles. It took six minutes for Tassie Johnson to pick the ball up after a throw in and kick the first goal. The Demons were on top early, getting to 2.6 before the Saints kicked their first goal. Melbourne answered quickly through Vagg, and though they conceded the last goal of the term their lead was still 17 points at the first change.
The first 10 minutes of the second quarter saw the ball flinging from end to end, with neither team able to kick a goal. Both teams kicked a point, and the Saints wasted a number of chances before finally opening the goalscoring for the term. The lead was nearly unchanged from quarter time before a late Ray Groom goal restored a 22 point gap.
At the start of the third quarter it was Melbourne's turn to attack but not be able to kick goals. They had a superiority in the pace but their failure to convert gave St Kilda opportunities, which they relied on their defenders to turn back. Gradually, the Demons began to pull away, by holding the Saints to 0.2 for the quarter they extended the margin to 42 points.
The game was all but over, and Vagg made sure of it with a goal three minutes into the last term. Townsend sharked a Carl Ditterich hitout for the 11th goal, and by the siren the margin was 59 points.
Despite the victory, and their high percentage, Melbourne were still in danger of missing out on the finals on wins alone if they slipped up drastically - being just a game in front of Carlton and St Kilda in the race for the four.
Best were Dixon, Anderson and Mann. Reserves were Rowarth and Robbie. Anderson suffered a cut eye after a collision with Bernie Massey and Lord a bruised hip.
Scoring
Vagg 4.0, Bourke 3.1, Emselle 2.1, Barassi 1.1, Groom 1.2, Johnson 1.0, Lord 1.0, Townsend 1.2, Dixon 0.1, Kenneally 0.3, Mann 0.1, Miller 0.1, Robbie 0.1
Reserves
St Kilda 16.19 d. Melbourne 7.11
Goals - Zinko 2, Matthews 1, McLean 1, Rattray 1, Schultz 1, Thiessen 1
Best - Read, Mann, Nilssen
Under 19s
Melbourne 10.15 d. St Kilda 2.11
Goals - Jacobs 2, Mounter 2, Warren 1, Brewster 1, Witomski 1, Leahy 1, Harrison 1, Mitchell 1
Best - Mitchell, Brodie, Feldman
Media
Sun - 25/07/1963
Sun - 27/07/1963
Sporting Globe - 27/07/1963
Age - 29/07/1963
Football Record R13 1963