Round 16, 1938
Footscray vs Melbourne
Saturday 13 August
Venue: Western Oval
Attendance: 19,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Footscray | 1.3 | 8.11 | 12.13 | 19.17.131 |
| Melbourne | 6.2 | 9.5 | 12.8 | 13.13.91 |
Footscray win by 40 points
Goalkickers: Norm Smith 4, Ron Baggott 3, Percy Beames 2, Maurie Gibb 1, John Lewis 1, Lou Reiffel 1, Keith Truscott 1
Milestones:
Last Game
John Lewis
50 Games
Norm Smith
A win over bottom placed South Melbourne coupled with a shock defeat for Richmond allowed Melbourne to sneak back into the top four, but they had to hold their place in the face of matches against two of the top four teams in the league. First was Footscray, who sat second on the ladder, and after the first quarter it looked as if a huge upset was on the cards.
In a battle highlighted by heavy clashes for the first 10 minutes Melbourne's six goals to one opened up a lead of 29 points at the first change of ends, but with the wind in their favour during the second quarter the Tricolours kicked the first goal of the second quarter and equalled the scores by half time. They had been in front before a Ron Baggott goal just before the bell drew Melbourne level.
Melbourne's second use of the breeze was wasted, allowing the home side to boot four goals to three and take a five point lead into the last change. They were as far as 12 points in front before a late goal gave the Demons some hope.
Footscray made no such mistakes with their second opportunity to use the wind and ran away to a comfortable victory. The defeat dropped Melbourne back to sixth on percentage, below Richmond and Collingwood, with a visit to top of the table Carlton to come the following Saturday.
Norm Smith kicked four goals, which took him to 74 for the year - breaking the club record held by George Margitich. Best were Smith, Beames and Roberts. 19th man Buckley replaced Lewis (broken arm) during the third quarter.
Seconds
Melbourne 13.17 d. Footscray 10.9
Goals - Alsop 6, Unknown 7
Media
Sporting Globe - 10/08/1938
Sporting Globe - 13/08/1938
Argus - 15/08/1938
Football Record R17 1938