Saturday 2 May - MCG
Crowd: 6300
Melbourne 0.2, 3.3, 3.4, 5.4
Essendon 3.2, 6.5, 7.6, 9.6
Essendon win by 4 goals
Goalkickers: Christie 2, McCarthy 2, O'Loughlin 1
A crowd shorn of the usual 'hoodlum' element were well behaved, but they watched a Melbourne side without captain Wilson or stars McGuiness and Moysey who missed the first game of the season due to injury. O'Loughlin captained the Reds in Wilson's absence.
Melbourne won the toss and kicked with the wind but were comprehensively outplayed by their opponents and conceded three goals without reply in the first quarter. Into the wind in the second term the reds were more productive and kicked two goals through Christy - despite this they still trailed by three goals at the long break.
In the third quarter Melbourne were the better side but conceded the only goal of the term. They struggled on a slippery ground. Essendon extending their lead to a near unbeatable four goals at the final change.
Of the 6300 crowd, only 3300 were paying customers while the rest were members of the MCC or Essendon. O'Loughlin acted as captain in the absence of the suspended Wilson.
Best were O'Halloran, Wardill and Christie.
Selected side:
Moodie, Fry, Irving, McCulloch, Christy, Wardill, Lewis, O'Halloran (vc), O'Dwyer, Massey, Leith, Hughes, Sholl, Sheehan, Powell, Ramsden, Sutton, Healing, O'Loughlin (c), McCarthy, Hall, Mountjoy, Mitchell, Kennedy, Ralfe, Adamson, Prytz, Bedford
Notes
Newspaper reports suggest Melbourne played as 'MCC'.
Media
Herald - 01/05/1896
Argus - 04/05/1896
Age - 04/05/1896