Round 4, 1924
Carlton vs Melbourne
Saturday 17 May
Venue: Princes Park
Attendance: 23,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Carlton | 1.2 | 6.5 | 8.8 | 11.10.76 |
| Melbourne | 3.7 | 5.14 | 11.21 | 14.25.109 |
Melbourne win by 33 points
Goalkickers: Harry Harker 4, Derek Mollison 3, Harry Coy 2, Stan Wittman 2, Wally Carter 1, Bill Shelton 1, Percy Tulloh 1
Milestones:
Nil
After two losses by under a goal and a week with the bye the Redlegs had sunk to the bottom of the ladder before opening their account on foreign soil with a comfortable win over the Blues. The shock victory was Melbourne's first score of over a hundred points since 1924 and their highest since Harry Harker kicked 10 in 1921.
Domination in the air and in the ruck was key to victory and their pace and passing was so brisk that at times the Blues were left standing around as Melbourne did what they pleased. The sparkling play of second gamer Stan Wittman ever caused the usually placid visiting fans to break out in song.
Melbourne were the best side for three-quarters of the game, but had a weakness in the forward line and missed a number of chances - scoring 14 goals but another 25 behinds. They were shooting from anywhere instead of passing to their teammates, but the move of Harry Coy from defence into attack paid dividends as he kicked two goals.
In the second quarter they were again wasteful, but opened up a lead of 28 points before the Blues stormed back into the game by kicking 5.3 to 1.3 for the remainer of the term. The Reds only kept their lead on the basis of having kicked 5.14 to Carlton's 6.5.
The wind dropped as the third quarter started, and almost immediately Carlton took the lead. Melbourne were then forced to defend their goal on several occasions, with Streeter taking two strong backs on the last line of defence to save his side. The margin extended to nine points before Melbourne struck back with five goals in a row before the quarter ended against a solitary point by the Blues.
The Blues had finished with a mighty rush in their previous two games, but within two minutes of the restart Melbourne had another goal through Mollision and the game was over. Carlton made the margin more respectable before two late Melbourne goals restored a lead of 33 points.
Wittman, Taylor and Haines were best.
Seconds
Carlton 3.9.27 d. Melbourne 2.6.18 (1/2 time score)
Media
Argus - 19/05/1924
Herald - 23/05/1924
Football Record R5 1924
Links
Blueseum match report