Round 7, 1931
Melbourne vs Collingwood
Saturday 13 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 26,436
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 3.2 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 7.12.54 |
| Collingwood | 2.7 | 4.8 | 5.10 | 10.11.71 |
Collingwood win by 17 points
Goalkickers: George Margitich 3, Robert C Johnson 2, Harry Long 1, Bill Vanthoff 1
Milestones:
Nil
A four game winning streak came to an end when Collingwood kicked straighter in a last quarter when both teams almost doubled their goal tally.
Considering the terrible state the ground had been left in by recent weather the two teams put in an entertaining game, though the excitement didn't peak until the last 10 minutes when the match was in the balance. With the ground caked with mud for roughly thirty metres around the centre it was almost impossible for players to handle the ball with any skill except in small areas of the wings, but they still conspired to put on an exciting show.
The Magpies might have had a bigger lead at quarter time if they had kicked straight, and they wasted their good work by letting Melbourne boot three quick goals with a slight wind advantage late in the quarter. Both teams had already exclusively adopted soccer tactics once they realised there was no point trying to pick the ball up and handle it in the conditions, but when the big men were called into action Collingwood's were superior. Margitich got Melbourne's last goal of the half to reduce the gap to two points.
After a tense tussle in the third term the Magpies kicked away, opening up a 20 point lead. That was the cue for a Melbourne comeback and with ten minutes to go they had taken the lead by a point. It would be their last successful period of play though, as Collingwood booted the last three goals to win.
Davidson, Avery and Margitich were best. Crapper was 19th man. The Demons wore black armbands for director Claude Couchman, who had died that morning.
Seconds
Melbourne 9.10 d. Collingwood 8.9
Goals - Beams 4, Unknown 5
Best - Beames, Pickford, Comber
Notes
Football Record, Sporting Globe and Argus state the 'official' attendance as 26,300.
Media
Sporting Globe - 13/06/1931
Argus - 15/06/1931
Football Record R8 1931