Semi Final, 1998
Melbourne vs St. Kilda
Saturday 12 September
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 88,456
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.5 | 6.11 | 9.15 | 15.17.107 |
| St. Kilda | 2.3 | 4.6 | 5.10 | 7.14.56 |
Melbourne win by 51 points
Goalkickers: Jeff Farmer 4, Shane Woewodin 2, Matthew Febey 1, Travis Johnstone 1, Darren Kowal 1, David Neitz 1, Russell Robertson 1, David Schwarz 1, Stephen Tingay 1, Todd Viney 1, Adem Yze 1
Best and Fairest
38 - Steven Febey
36 - Guy Rigoni
35 - Jeff Farmer
26 - Marcus Seecamp
18 - Anthony Ingerson
Milestones:
100 games
Anthony Ingerson (also with Adelaide)
After Melbourne's win over Adelaide the previous week, a big crowd returned to the MCG to see the 1997 wooden spooners beat another side that had contested that year's Grand Final.
Garry Lyon was a late withdrawal, and in light rain, Melbourne dominated the first 15 minutes but only registered five behinds. St Kilda settled and took their chances better, opening a 14 point lead in the second quarter before the Demons recovered. Jeff White was struggling under the first tag of his career, but the game turned when Jeff Farmer kicked three goals in six minutes. His team registered eight without reply, while at the other end, the Demon defence was keeping St Kilda's big men quiet, much to the frustration of Barry Hall, who was reported for dropping a knee onto Steven Febey. A late goal to Stephen Tingay, who muscled his way through three opponents to soccer the ball through, extended the margin to 17 points.
St Kilda defended grimly after half time, but while both sides were scoreless in the opening 12 minutes of the third quarter, Melbourne broke through for three goals in three minutes that put the result beyond doubt.
After half time Melbourne added another nine goals to three, registering their seventh straight victory, by an average margin of 54 points.
The Guy Rigoni vs Robert Harvey duel was one of the most important on the ground. The mature aged recruit in his first season successfully broke even with the dual Brownlow Medallist. Elsewhere Matthew Febey had the better of Austinn Jones and Jamie Shanahan destroyed his ex-teammates Stewart Loewe and Jason Heatley by keeping them both goalless. Marcus Seecamp also beat Heatley handily, after conceding five goals to him the last time the sides had met.
Neale Daniher said ""It was a good win. It was one goal to four and they were coming at us, so it was terrific that our blokes regrouped when they were under the pump. In other games, we have got to the front and stayed there, so this was a real challenge." Asked about his side's chances Daniher said "I think we'll have to play better to beat North Melbourne."
Best were Steven Febey, Farmer and White. White left the field with a corked thigh in the last quarter. Travis Johnstone replaced Garry Lyon in the selected side)).
The victory booked the Demons a date against the heavily favoured North Melbourne in the Preliminary Final. It was St Kilda's eighth loss from their last 10 games, leading to former Demon Stan Alves being sacked as their after the loss.
Video
Media
Age - 13/09/1998, 13/09/1998, 14/09/1998
Football Record - Preliminary Final 1998