Round 9, 1971
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 29 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 39,830
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.4 | 5.8 | 7.9 | 10.10.70 |
| St. Kilda | 2.2 | 4.3 | 9.4 | 10.7.67 |
Melbourne win by 3 points
Goalkickers: Barry Bourke 3, Paul Callery 2, Peter Keenan 2, Denis Clark 1, John Gallus 1, Greg Parke 1
Milestones:
MFC Debut
Gordon Lawrie
Despite Melbourne having won seven of their first eight, the Saints entered the match as the popular pick amongst journalists, but it didn't go their way. Percy Beames, writing in The Age said that "St. Kilda has definite advantages over the Demons" in height, weight and physical strength.
Only two of the eight Age tipsers picked the Demons but by 5pm six of the experts had been proven wrong and it seemed that there was no way the Demons could fail to end their six season finals drought.
The day was a double success for Ian Ridley, with his horse Royal Playboy - owned with committeeman Reg Geary - saluting by four lengths at Ballarat, but his football side found it much harder to get over the line against the determined visitors.
In a low scoring match the two sides traded blows across the first three quarters which left the Saints just seven points in front at the last break. The Demons had been forced to strike back once already during the day, kicking 4.3 to nothing in the second half of the second quarter to steal a lead at the long break.
Melbourne appeared to lose concentration in the third quarter, and with St Kilda dominant in the ruck they kicked five goals to nothing during to make their position even more commanding, but two late goals by Paul Callery were invaluable in getting his side back into the match.
The Demons hit the lead five minutes into the last term and for the rest of the day not a single goal was scored, and St Kilda's three behind to one advantage failed to get them over the line.
The win kept Melbourne in second place in front of glamour clashes with Richmond (fourth) and Hawthorn (top) which would decide their season.
Best were Sullivan, Molloy and Biffin. McKenzie suffered an ankle injury, Alves a cut forehead and Biffin a bruised arm. Gordon Lawrie and Peter Sinclair were unused reserves.
Reserves
Melbourne 16.14 d. St Kilda 9.14
Goals - Carr 5, Theodore 3, Honey 2, McDonald 2, Colcott 1, Cook 1, McSpeerin 1, Cumming 1
Best - Theodore, McDonald, Collins
Under 19s
Melbourne 10.8 d. St Kilda 4.7
Goals - Dilnot 2, Smith 2, Kerley 1, McQueen 1, Moore 1, O'Kane 1, Tesoriero 1, Williamson 1
Best - O'Kane, Kerley, Harrold
Media
Age - 29/05/1971
Age - 31/05/1971
Football Record R10 1971