Round 5, 1898
Essendon vs Melbourne
Saturday 4 June
Venue: East Melbourne
Attendance: Unknown
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Essendon | 2.2 | 2.4 | 5.8 | 6.12.48 |
| Melbourne | 1.0 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 3.5.23 |
Essendon win by 25 points
Goalkickers: Denis Lanigan 1, Fred McGinis 1, Charlie Young 1
Milestones:
Last Game
Bob Moore
Rain hurt the attendance of what otherwise should have been an extremely popular game, but those who braved the conditions were treated to a high quality game and a win for the home side. They were lucky to see a match, the league's adverse weather committee met on the Saturday morning, and after several calls to the weather observatory the verdict came back that there would be fine weather with showers and that the games should on. The predictions were correct, the grounds were heavy but no further rain fell.
Two goals from free kicks helped Melbourne go into the half time break just one point behind, but when their luck with the umpiring ran out in the second half they could manage just one. They hit the post early in the third quarter, and the two sides played end to end football before Essendon kicked away.
In the last quarter Melbourne couldn't get past Essendon's half back line and they were beaten comfortably.
Best were Wood, McLeod and Lewis. Byers finished the game with a black eye, sprained ankle and dislocated thumb. Eddie Sholl was a late withdrawal due to a cold.
Lists
Scoreless fourth quarters
Media
Argus - 06/06/1898
Sportsman - 07/06/1898
Herald - 10/06/1898