Round 15, 1968
North Melbourne vs Melbourne
Saturday 27 July
Venue: Arden Street
Attendance: 5826
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| North Melbourne | 2.6 | 2.6 | 5.8 | 5.8.38 |
| Melbourne | 0.0 | 2.3 | 5.3 | 6.4.40 |
Melbourne win by 2 points
Goalkickers: Stan Alves 3, Ray Biffin 1, Hassa Mann 1, John Townsend 1
Milestones:
Nil
The state of the Demons' 1968 season was shown in front of a paltry crowd at Arden Street as they struggled to fall over the line against the bottom of the ladder Kangaroos in a low scoring, low quality match.
Despite holding the Demons scoreless in a first quarter where they were aided by a strong wind, the Roos only managed two goals themselves, and in an attempt to stop the Demons from kicking away from them North coach Keith McKenzie put 17 of his players into attack during the second term.
The tactic paid off when Melbourne only added two goals of their own for the term, but McKenzie's tactic ceded any chance his side had of putting up an attacking stand against the wind and they were left scoreless, fans at one end of the ground having seen 0.0 in the first half.
John Beckwith refused to play the same negative, defensive game and was rewarded with three goals - all to Stan Alves into the wind in the third quarter. The two sides were as good as even going into the final term, but with the wind to their advantage the Demons should have run away against the VFL's easybeats.
The Roos were five points in front at the final change and once again threw 17 players to the backline to try and defend into the blustery wind. The tactic paid dividends for most of the quarter, but the two times they cracked they conceded a goal and a point and the Demons were home by two despite having to hold onto the two point lead with no further score for the last 20 minutes of the match.
The match was the fourth and last time in VFL/AFL history that the Demons were held scoreless in an opening term but still went on to win.
Best were Alves, Mann and Lakes. Anderson (concussion) was replaced by Biffin in the third quarter. Forster was an unused reserve.
Reserves
Melbourne 13.7 d. North Melbourne 10.6
Goals - Fahey 5, Catlin 2, Langford 1, Hutton 1, Rhoden 1, Emselle 1, K. Osborne 1, Weekes 1
Best - Catlin, Emselle, Fahey
Under 19s
Melbourne 20.18 d. North Melbourne 13.7
Goals - Sampson 4, Jennings 3, Hodges 2, McKenzie 2, Mitchell 2, Walker 2, Wells 2, Allan 1, Callery 1, Colcott 1
Best - Callery, Jenkin, Jennings
Lists
Scoreless First Quarters
Media
Football Record R16 1968
Age - 29/07/1968