Round 14, 1980
Footscray vs Melbourne
Saturday 28 June
Venue: Western Oval
Attendance: 11,785
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Footscray | 3.6 | 5.9 | 8.12 | 10.13.73 |
| Melbourne | 3.2 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6.7.43 |
Footscray win by 30 points
Goalkickers: Tony Elshaug 2, Garry Baker 1, Henry Coles 1, Jim Durnan 1, Robert Walters 1
Milestones:
Nil
On a soaking wet day in Melbourne the game at the Western Oval was destroyed as a pure footballing contest before the first bounce. Given the lowly position of the teams it might not have mattered, with Footscray moving off the bottom of the ladder with their win.
The two sides slugged it out on the sodden turf, and until the Demons gave the game away by failing to score in the third quarter it was anybody's game. Robert Flower was taken off with a badly twisted ankle in the third and while Carl Ditterich was slaughtered in the ruck many of his compatriots were handily beaten as well.
Ditterich, perhaps starting to sense that his VFL career was coming to an end as a player and a coach, fumed that his players had "given up before breakfast".
Best were Tony Elshaug, Wayne Gordon and Laurie Fowler. Robert Flower suffered a sprained ankle, Robert Elliott a bruised back and Jim Durnan cramp. Durnan had replaced Greg Wells (shoulder) in the selected squad.
Reserves
Footscray 23.16.154 d. Melbourne 8.6.54
Goals - Dullard 3, O'Donnell 2, Bickford 1, Cooney 1, Maynard 1
Best - Dullard, O'Donnell, Whitford
Under 19s
Melbourne 9.21.75 d. Footscray 10.11.71
Goals: Deakin 3, Osiurak 3, Fidge 1, O'Dwyer 1, Mackenzie 1
Media
Age - 28/06/1980
Canberra Times - 29/06/1980
Age - 30/06/1980
Football Record R15 1980