Elimination Final, 1988
Melbourne vs West Coast
Saturday 3 September
Venue: Waverley
Attendance: 43,438
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.1 | 2.3 | 8.5 | 11.7.73 |
| West Coast | 2.4 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 10.11.71 |
Melbourne win by 2 points
Goalkickers: Ricky Jackson 2, Andy Lovell 2, Sean Wight 2, Greg Healy 1, Alan Johnson 1, Garry Lyon 1, Earl Spalding 1, David Williams 1
Milestones:
Nil
With Carlton and Collingwood playing in front of a sell-out crowd at the MCG, it was the match at Waverley which was a break from footy tradition. The Eagles had never played a final, and had only previously played night games at Waverley.
Before the match Northey had used Perth press clippings featuring Eagles coach John Todd labelling his opponents as "ordinary", "not very skilfull" and had "made the finals by default" as a motivational tool. With the Eagles playing their first VFL final he was hoping to catch a psychological advantage for his side which had struggled in recent weeks. It nearly worked.
On a wet day the Eagles were red hot in the first quarter, and it was only the defensive performances of Danny Hughes and Johnson that allowed them to escape the first half just 22 points behind. It could have been more had Wally Matera not missed running into an open goal, but Melbourne did get a late goal to keep the scores respectable.
Sean Wight, after a forgettable first half in defence, was thrown to full-forward and responded by sparking his side with two early goals. Six goals for the quarter were aptly topped off by Johnson booting one from fifty.
Steven Stretch moved onto Karl Langdon, who had beaten Rod Grinter comprehensively, and helped stem the tide while the return to form of Greg Healy after some lean weeks was a cause for celebration in the Demon camp.
The lead changed hands three times in the last seven minutes. At the 30 minute mark of the last quarter with the Eagles four points in front Earl Spalding missed a set shot 30 metres from goal, but Garry Lyon snapped a goal less than a minute later to put the Demons in front. Eagle Murray Wrensted had the chance to win the game for his side, but his kick to an open square in the last few minutes bounced the wrong way.
John Northey broke from coaching cliche convention and openly described Alan Johnson's performance as "magnificent". Referring to the press clippings he had displayed earlier Northey said "For ordinary players they did a magnificent job".
Best were Johnson, Stretch and Healy.
Video
Media
Canberra Times - 03/09/1988
Age - 01/09/1988
Canberra Times - 04/09/1988
Age - 05/09/1988
Football Record Semi Final 1988