Saturday 23 September - Argyle Ground
Crowd: 600
Geelong 1
Melbourne 3 (half time 0-1)
Melbourne win by 2 goals
Goalkickers: Austin Loughnan 1, Charles Carr 1, Edwin Towle 1
Harrison captained Melbourne against a Geelong side which had troubles making up their number. He chose to kick into a slight breeze to stop his players from having to look into the sun, and early on the home side had the advantage. Dave Duff was forced to defend Melbourne's goal on a number of occasions, and he launched one counter attack that allowed Austin Loughnan to boot the first goal.
Melbourne were struggling to come to terms with the ground, but maintained their lead. Geelong made it to half time without conceding another goal, but Melbourne's superior weight and speed advantage eventually won it in another goal - this time to Charles Carr. Towle added the third almost immediately after, and Geelong only got their consolation with the last kick of the day.
After the match local players alleged that Melbourne players were drunk and disorderly in Geelong after the game, but an eyewitness report to The Australasian suggested that while they had been noisy in the streets that a large crowd gathered to see their train back to the city off, and that one player serenaded them with Auld Lang Syne as the train left.
Media
Geelong Advertiser - 25/09/1871
Weekly Times - 30/09/1871
Australasian - 07/10/1871