Round 11, 1928
Melbourne vs Footscray
Saturday 30 June
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 24,562
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 1.1 | 4.3 | 9.7 | 10.8.68 |
| Footscray | 3.1 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 8.8.56 |
Melbourne win by 12 points
Goalkickers: Col Deane 2, Francis Vine 2, Hugh Dunbar 1, Derek Mollison 1, Richard Taylor 1, Ivor Warne-Smith 1, Herbert White 1, Stan Wittman 1
Milestones:
First Game
Ray Usher
Controversy enveloped the game after a Footscray player wore an aluminium shield on his knee. The jointed rod of the brace caused a protrusion and two Melbourne players injured themselves on it. The Fuschias hierarchy made a complaint at half time but were told there was nothing in the rules to stop him wearing it.
Despite the controversy Melbourne continued their flawless record against Footscray since the Tricolours had joined the league in 1925. After having been outplayed in the first half the match was won in the third quarter when the home side kicked five goals to one despite losing the services of Collins who had suffered a knock to the head.
They had to battle early, only managing one goal in the first quarter as they couldn't penetrate Footscray's tight defence. A rally at the end of the quarter was fruitless and they changed ends two goals behind. They continued the good work in the second but were again struggling to get past the opposition backmen, with the margin one point at the long break.
Footscray attacked first in the third quarter before their passing faltered and Melbourne took over, opening up a 25 point lead at three-quarter time. An attempt to out-muscle Melbourne in the last quarter only succeeded in getting within a goal before Deane kicked the sealer.
It was Melbourne's seventh match in 11 which had ended with a margin of two goals or less. The Redlegs had won six of them.
Warne-Smith, Wittman and Taylor were best. In addition to Collins, Dunbar hurt his knee in the third term and was a non-factor in the game from there on. Wittman hurt his shoulder rand back while Thomas and Chadwick also had knee complaints. McConville suffered a kick on the hand.
After playing all the other teams in the competition once Melbourne were second on the ladder on percentage from Collingwood - two wins in front of third placed Richmond.
Seconds
Melbourne 10.11 d. Footscray 9.14
Goals - Hope 3, Sullivan 2, Banks 2, Moodie 1, Smith 1, Silveria 1
Media
Football Record R12 1928
The Argus - 02/07/1928
The Argus - 03/05/1952