Round 14, 1978
Footscray vs Melbourne
Saturday 8 July
Venue: Western Oval
Attendance: 13,325
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Footscray | 6.2 | 10.5 | 17.6 | 20.7.127 |
| Melbourne | 2.4 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 8.11.59 |
Footscray win by 68 points
Goalkickers: Peter Johnston 3, Garry Baker 1, Ross Brewer 1, Henry Coles 1, Peter Hamilton 1, Ken Roberts 1
Milestones:
First Game
Mark McKeon
First Goal
Peter Hamilton (20th game)
Having already been thrashed by fellow wooden spoon contenders Fitzroy a week before the Demons travelled to the Western Oval to suffer their second heavy beating at the hands of the third last Footscray for the season.
Frustrations boiled over for the Demons during the game. Ken Roberts was reported twice, Henry Coles gave away two successive 15m penalties for throwing the ball away after a free kick and even the usually silky smooth Greg Wells was caught holding the ball as he tried to run through an opponent.
A revival in the second quarter through resting ruckman Peter Johnston, who kicked three goals from three marks while up forward, soon petered out when two Dogs players came off the bench and kicked a goal each.
For the second week in a row the Demons fell in a hole during the third quarter, earning just 36 kicks and kicking two points against Footscray's 7.1. Shane Grambeau held the deadly Kelvin Templeton - who had booted 15.9 the week before in the Saints score of 33.15 - to nine kicks but he still managed six goals from his limited opportunities.
In a deliberate attempt to keep player spirits up the troops were instructed to sing the theme song in the visitors rooms after the game but the players understandably found it hard to muster much enthusiasm for the idea considering they had just suffered their eighth loss of the year by more than ten goals.
Best were Baker, R. Flower and Gaunt. Ken Roberts was reported for striking twice and outed on one of the charges for two weeks. The Tribunal didn’t accept his claim that his opponent “ran into” his arm, and that there was no power in the alleged strike.
Reserves
Footscray 23.19.157 d. Melbourne 5.4.34
Goals - Besanko 3, Maynard 1, Wallace 1
Best - Cooke, Cunningham, Giuleri
Under 19s
Footscray 15.13.103 d. Melbourne 14.12.96
Goals - Juliff 3, Sadauskas 3, Elshaug 2, Angelis 2, Bickford 1, Davis 1, Hayes 1, Mobbs 1
Best - Angelis, Hayes, Cochran
Notes
Roberts was reported by three umpires for striking the same player in one last quarter incident, two for hitting him with an open right hand and once for striking to the body.
Lists
Tribunal
Media
Age - 10/07/1978
Football Record R15 1978
Inside Football - 20/07/1978