Round 7, 1968
Melbourne vs Hawthorn
Saturday 25 May
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 17,263
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Melbourne | 4.7 | 5.11 | 6.12 | 11.14.80 |
| Hawthorn | 3.2 | 6.7 | 11.10 | 11.10.76 |
Melbourne win by 4 points
Goalkickers: Stan Alves 3, Barrie Vagg 3, Ken Osborne 2, Gary Hardeman 1, Graham Osborne 1, Greg Parke 1
Milestones:
First game
Phil Rhoden
Tony Anderson, Chris Fowler, Geoff Whitton and Ted Lees were injured during training throughout the week. Anderson and Fowler hurt their ankles, Whitton his hamstring and Lees a knee. John Townsend, Stan Alves, Brian Dixon, Ross Dillon, Don Williams and Kelvin Clarke were already under an injury cloud and with the Demons having already lost two games in a row they were in danger of losing touch with the top four if they had another loss.
At three quarter time they were 28 points behind and looked finished. Then came a remarkable comeback, where even with a wind advantage they kicked 5.2 to nothing, and four goals in the last eight minutes, to win. John Beckwith gambled to try and win, throwing Brian Roet and Ray Groom into attack. Greg Parke goalled deep in time on to cut the margin to less than one straight kick, but with seconds to go it looked like their comeback would be futile. Best on Ground Ray Wilson had the ball in the Hawks backline with his side narrowly in front but he kicked out of bounds on the full, allowing Dixon - still playing despite his injury - to punt the ball forward where it bounced off the pack to the left boot of Barrie Vagg who kicked the winning goal. The final siren sounded as the ball was flying into the crowd.
Tassie Johnson held Peter Hudson to three goals for the day and blanketed him in the last quarter when the game was on the line. In the third quarter Hudson was even seen performing a defensive spoil on Johnson.
Best were Johnson, Vagg and Parke. Clark (bruised thigh) was replaced by Rhoden in the third quarter. Stone (hamstring) was replaced by Hardeman at three quarter time. Alves sprained his back and Groom bruised his thigh.
Reserves
Hawthorn 14.17 d. Melbourne 13.5
Goals - Fahey 6, Sampson 2, Dowsing 1, Watts 1, Catlin 1, Hodges 1, Langford 1
Best - Dowsing, Fahey, Campbell
Under 19s
Melbourne 8.11.59 d. Hawthorn 6.9.45
Goals - Mitchell 2, McLean 2, Colcott 1, Gough 1, Hill 1, O'Farrell 1
Best - Elliott, Mitchell, Gowdie
Media
Football Record - R8 1968
Age - 20/05/1968, 27/05/1968