Round 20, 1976
St. Kilda vs Melbourne
Saturday 14 August
Venue: Moorabbin
Attendance: 18,089
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| St. Kilda | 5.3 | 9.5 | 11.7 | 13.14.92 |
| Melbourne | 3.9 | 7.14 | 15.17 | 18.21.129 |
Melbourne win by 37 points
Goalkickers: Colin Graham 4, Chris Woodman 4, Laurie Fowler 3, Ray Biffin 2, Henry Coles 1, Robert Flower 1, Craig McKellar 1, Steven Smith 1, Greg Wells 1
Milestones:
Nil
Allan Jeans' farewell to Moorabbin was ruined by a Demons side which won to keep themselves alive in the 1976 finals race.
It looked like an unlikely result in the first quarter when Melbourne kicked with a breeze but managed 1.8 in the opening 25 minutes to trail by three goals.
They kept in touch, though, and an eight goal blitz in 20 minutes of the 3rd quarter put them in the driver's seat. Chris Woodman got the first three and Colin Graham chipped in for two more to give the demons a 34 point lead at three-quarter time.
St. Kilda's George Young kicked 8.3, but there were far too few contributors in a Saints side also fighting to be a part of the September action.
The Demons won 20 clearances from 31 centre bounces and Jeans said "we lost the game where you're supposed to win it".
Best were Fowler, Wells and Giampaolo. Fowler had 24 kicks, 6 marks, six handballs and 3.3. Wells racked up 29 kicks and 7 handballs. Davis and R. Smith were replaced in the selected side by Carroll and O'Keefe. Brewer (strained knee ligaments) was replaced by Carroll in the first quarter and Hardeman was replaced by O'Keefe in the last quarter.
Reserves
St Kilda 19.17 d. Melbourne 14.16
Goals - Tippett 3, Walters 3, Fitzsimmons 2, Kelly 2, Walley 2, Cortese 1, Lyons 1
Best - Grambeau, Cortese, Keays
Under 19s
Melbourne 11.13.79 drew St. Kilda 11.13.79
Media
Age - 16/08/1976
Football Record R21 1976