Round 7, 1947
Melbourne vs Footscray
Saturday 31 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 34,107
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.1 | 7.1 | 11.3 | 17.3.105 |
| Footscray | 1.1 | 6.5 | 13.6 | 15.8.98 |
Melbourne win by 7 points
Goalkickers: Fred Fanning 7, Jack Mueller 2, Len Dockett 1, Adrian Dullard 1, Frank O'Connor 1
Statistical categories led:
Most accurate kicking (+15 scoring shots) in a match
Milestones:
Nil
Three straight wins had put the Demons on the verge of the top four, and another impressive win off the back of spearhead Fred Fanning continued the good run to push themselves into a finals spot. On a weekend where the VFL broke its one day attendance record, a big crowd turned up to see the clash between the two sides and they were not let down - with the Demons mounting a comeback in the last quarter to snatch victory narrowly.
The game opened with both sides fumbling, and each had an area of their game where they dominated - Melbourne in the air and the Bulldogs with speed. Melbourne got the first goal through O'Connor, and accurate goalkicking would be a feature of their performance in the last time that Melbourne scored exactly 3 behinds in a game. Footscray were unable to penetrate their defence for more than one goal and one behind and went in three goals behind.
The Demon defence had to do more hard work in the second quarter to hold out against the much improved Dogs and the margin was cut to two points at half time.
Footscray shot away in the third quarter to open a 15 point lead, and they extended the margin to 21 points, but wilted under pressure as the quarter went on. Two goals to Fanning got the Demons back into the game and entering time on they'd snatched a one point lead. They held onto it for five minutes before registering another goal on the siren.
Mueller, Lock and McLean were best. 19th Man was Bowman and 20th Man Scanlan.
After the match, Melbourne demanded an enquiry into allegations that two Footscray players had been offered bribes before the match. The players were said to have refused the offer and reported it to their club. Footscray cleared Melbourne of any involvement in the incident.
Seconds
Melbourne 15.8 d. Footscray 10.8
Thirds
Melbourne 27.14 d. Essendon 3.6
Notes
Some sources have the crowd as 35,000
Media
Herald - 30/05/1947
Sporting Globe - 31/05/1947, 04/06/1947, 04/06/1947
News - 03/06/1947
Sun - 04/06/1947
Football Record R8 1947