Round 20, 1971
St. Kilda vs Melbourne
Saturday 14 August
Venue: Moorabbin
Attendance: 25,081
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| St. Kilda | 1.0 | 8.8 | 9.9 | 14.11.95 |
| Melbourne | 4.7 | 5.7 | 7.9 | 9.10.64 |
St. Kilda win by 31 points
Goalkickers: Max Walker 3, Peter Keenan 2, Paul Callery 1, Denis Clark 1, Graham Molloy 1, John Tilbrook 1
Milestones:
Last Game
Brent Jones
The Demons still held hopes of sneaking into the four, but they were extinguished by the Saints at Moorabbin. Brent Jones replaced the suspended Ray Biffin but it was burly bodies that Melbourne needed.
A side stacked with speedy players had been ducking and weaving around the giants of the competition all year and staying in touch with finals action, but despite running through a banner reading "WE CAN MAKE THE FOUR" the bigger and stronger St. Kilda side exposed them and finally shut the door on a finals bid that had been on life support for a month.
The Demons outscored the Saints with the wind in the first and third quarters, by three and one goal respectively but despite Peter Keenan and Max Walker dominating they couldn't hold the Saints when they had the breeze. In the second quarter they won just two of 25 ruck contests. According to Keenan, as players walked towards the sheds at half time Ian Ridley slammed the door shut on them, telling them to go watch the Little League and learn something.
Best were Wells, Bourke and Osborne. Ritterman was replaced by Brown at three quarter time and McSpeerin by Gallus in the last quarter. Keenan suffered a bruised thigh, Hardeman strained knee ligaments and Bourke and a strained knee.
Reserves
Melbourne 23.24 d. St Kilda 10.8
Goals - Carr 12, Honey 3, Burgmann 2, Collins 2, Townsend 2, Sinclair 1, Williamson 1
Best - Carr, Theodore, Sinclair
Under 19s
Melbourne 19.24 d. St Kilda 3.10
Media
Age - 16/08/1971