Round 4, 1990
Fitzroy vs Melbourne
Saturday 21 April
Venue: Waverley
Attendance: 13,671
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Fitzroy | 3.3 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 9.10.64 |
| Melbourne | 5.3 | 5.4 | 10.7 | 13.11.89 |
Melbourne win by 25 points
Goalkickers: Jim Stynes 3, Darren Bennett 2, Brian Wilson 2, Simon Eishold 1, Steven Febey 1, Rod Grinter 1, Alan Johnson 1, Andy Lovell 1, Todd Viney 1
Brownlow Votes:
3 - Garry Lyon
1 - Andrew Obst
Milestones:
Nil
On a cold windy day the Demons extended their lead at the top of the league by remaining the only unbeaten team in the competition. The Lions kicked into the wind in the first term and kept the league leaders to two goals before drawing ahead in the second, but they couldn't sustain it across the afternoon. When Ross Lyon kicked his fourth goal early in the third quarter the lead was out to 14 points and the Lions were flying, but despite going into time-on 17 points behind Melbourne piled on three late goals to take the lead and weren't headed again.
John Northey made a crucial positional move in the third quarter, moving Darren Bennett from full-forward to centre half-forward and moving defender Earl Spalding to full-forward to try and change the tone of the game. Melbourne then kicked the next seven goals, including six in 10 minutes, to take the upper hand. They had to kick into the wind in the last quarter, but put on three goals to two and held on to win.
Northey said: "to be a top side we have got to be very hard on ourselves to keep producing good football. We were lucky to be in it, and it was only the third quarter which got us out of jail."
Best were Lyon, Stynes and T. Viney. Viney had replaced Steve O'Dwyer (twisted ankle) in the selected side. Alan Johnson suffered a calf muscle strain in his comeback from injury. Peter Rohde left the game with a leg injury at the end of the second quarter, leaving the Dees to finish the game with 18 men.
Videos
Reserves
Fitzroy 8.9.57 d. Melbourne 5.12.42
Goals - Morey 4, Heaver 1
Best - J. Viney, Healy, Cuthbertson
Under 19s
Collingwood 17.6.108 d. Melbourne 13.15.93
Goals - McCarthy 3, Schwarz 3, O'Sullivan 1, Stynes 1, Hobbes 1, Robins 1, Fanning 1, Lamb 1, Theodore 1
Best - Capsalis, Johnstone, Solyom
Media
Canberra Times - 21/04/1990
Canberra Times - 22/04/1990
Age - 22/04/1990
Age - 23/04/1990
Football Record R5 1990