Round 5, 1911
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 27 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 6,570
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.3 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 9.15.69 |
| St. Kilda | 0.0 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 4.7.31 |
Melbourne win by 38 points
Goalkickers: Harry Brereton 5, Stan Fairbairn 2, Bill McKenzie 1, Ben Sheppard 1
Milestones:
First Game
Bill Hickey
Leo Rush
Only Game
Jimmy Nolan
MFC Debut
Ken Edgar
First Goal
Ben Sheppard (2nd game)
Bill McKenzie (24th game)
Melbourne welcomed their visitors to the MCG and despite three league debutantes in their team, won with such ease that a St Kilda committeeman was quoted as saying his side "will have to engage a heart specialist."
The game was witnessed by His Excellency the Governor Sir John Fuller, his wife and children. Before the game both sets of players and umpires assembled in front of the grandstand and gave three cheers for them. It was the first sporting event he'd attended in Melbourne since taking up the role.
There was no score for the first 10 minutes of the match before Melbourne opened their account with a point. Not long after Fairbairn got the first major of the day courtesy of a towering mark in front of goal. Bill Hendrie had assisted the first goal, and was also responsible for the second to Brereton.
They got four goals in the first quarter, leaving the visitors scoreless. In the second quarter tempers boiled over after a St Kilda player was pushed to the turf as he kicked and retaliated by striking at a Melbourne player. The field umpire missed the initial shove and paid a free to the Reds, sparking angry protests. Their frustration continued to cause issues throughout the day as they took the law into their own hands to repay perceived injustices.
St Kilda were better in the second quarter, and narrowed the margin to 20 points but it was as close as they got. Their cause wasn't helped by losing a player to injury in the third quarter, Newbound returned to the field badly limping in the last but couldn't have any impact.
With heavy rain falling in the last quarter only poor kicking for goal stopped the home side from registering an even greater victory. Crude handball by both sides ruined the game as a spectacle, with umpire Tulloch paying many free kicks. St Kilda's forwards hurt their team's chances of winning by wandering out of their position on several occasions, allowing Melbourne to easily rebound out of defence.
On a rough day two St Kilda players were reported for rough play and later suspended. Much of the roughness was directed at ex-St Kilda player Ken Edgar, who was making his debut for the Fuschias. Frank Harris - another ex-Seasider - was also unpopular with the visiting fans. Joe Pearce was lucky not to be reported as well for an incident during the third quarter.
Best were Robertson, McKenzie and Tomkins.
Notes
There is no indication in the match report in The Argus that Nolan actually played in the match, but later news stories seem to indicate he did play. Neither he nor Stan Fairbairn were named in the squad that the side would be selected from.
Lists
Scoreless first quarters
Media
Argus - 29/05/1911
Argus - 29/05/1911
Age - 29/05/1911
Herald - 26/05/1911
Punch - 01/06/1911
Leader - 03/06/1911
Sporting Judge - 03/06/1911