Round 5, 1899
Melbourne vs Fitzroy
Saturday 3 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 12,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.10 | 4.11.35 |
| Fitzroy | 0.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 3.6.24 |
Melbourne win by 11 points
Goalkickers: Jack Leith 1, Tommy Ryan 1, Dick Wardill 1, Charlie Young 1
Milestones:
First Game
Cecil Cumberland
With both sides having beaten all comers across the first month of the season a big crowd turned up to see who would suffer their first defeat of the year. Melbourne got bad news before the game with Wood and Vic Cumberland out of the game late due to illness, replaced by Davidson and the debuting Cecil Cumberland.
Melbourne took a lead into quarter time that would ultimately be match-winning, and added a third early in the second term to make Fitzroy's position grim. The Maroons finally got into the game from there, winning a lucky free kick in front of goal and kicking their first. They got another not long after.
Fitzroy had finished the second quarter so strongly it looked as if they would run away with the game but the sides only managed one goal each in the third. With darkness falling on the ground in the last term the two sides played fiercely but barely added a score.
Best was Herring, filling in for Wood at half-back, Sholl and Illingworth.
Media
Argus - 05/06/1899
Mercury and Weekly Courier - 09/06/1899