Saturday September 29 - Prince's Oval
Crowd: 7000
Melbourne 0.6
Carlton 2.14 (half time 0.3 to 2.3)
Carlton win by 2 goals
Goalkickers: Nil
Melbourne had offered to play the game at Fitzroy as a benefit for their player Frank Conway, and Carlton's Frayne who suffered an injury in the last meeting between the clubs. The Reds resolved to donate all their gate takings to the appeal, but Carlton refused on the basis that they might lose their ground if they didn't play there.
With nothing to play for the last match of the year was a dull affair and most players went through the motions. Melbourne led the season's matches over Carlton two wins to one, but the Blues equalised on the last Saturday of the season.
Each side was missing several of their best players, and the match wasn't up to the standard the sides had set earlier in the year. Melbourne made some of the earliest attacks on goal but their kicking was off-target in the absence of top goalscorer Stiffe and Carlton got two goals in quick succession to take that margin into the half.
Carlton held on to their lead comfortably in the second half, and they should have won by much more except their kicking on goal was even worse than Melbourne's had been in the first half.
Best were Mackenzie, McDonald and Propsting.
Notes
Some sources have Melbourne's score as 0.5
Media
Sportsman - 26/09/1883
Sportsman - 03/10/1883
Argus - 01/10/1883
Australasian - 06/10/1883