Round 11 – Hawthorn v Melbourne: Flat and grey for most of the match

Flat and grey for most of the match

Round 11, Hawthorn v Melbourne, June 4, MCG

 

Start time was 1.45 p.m. and the main lights were already on and it was raining. It’s a special game for Josh Gibson – 200 games, Jack Gunston has 100 club games up and Max Gawn hits 50 games. Trengrove returns after an extended absence. The back of the Melbourne banner had the bottom line ‘Good luck Roughy’, an unexpected touch. Melbourne won the toss and kicked towards the city end.

 

The first quarter: Melbourne fans boo every touch Frawley has. It is still raining, the ball is wet and slippery, Dawes is wearing long sleeves. But he does get the first goal on the board, 9 minutes into the quarter. Gunston chips in with two highlight goals. The first an excellent mark and set shot given the conditions. The second a great baulk, dodge and straight through.

 

The second quarter: Cyril grabs the ball from a pack, quick to foot and it’s a goal. This was the fifth unanswered for the Hawks, but then in the typical ebb and flow of football, the Demons score the next four in a row. Melbourne end up with the lead at half time. After the break there are more empty seats nearby, with patrons moving undercover as the rain continues. A fairly constant drizzle, not the worst I’ve sat through, but a continuous fall.

 

The third quarter: Hogan has a bounce stumble fumble towards goal, but his blushes are saved as Kent follows up and gets the points. A dreadful turnover in the Hawks’ back half ends in a Jones goal. Melbourne have kicked very accurately, now at 10-2, and those 2 points were both rushed. A Breust mark and goal ties it all up at the siren.

 

The fourth quarter: 1 point each is traded. Breust does a clever keep-the-ball-in-play and Stewart kicks a goal in his debut match. O’Brien sinks a good long straight set shot, pretty amazing in the conditions, and the match is virtually done. But there is the flurry of a 50 m penalty and the report of Vince. No goals for Melbourne in this quarter.

 

Now it is thirteen wins in a row for Hawthorn over Melbourne. As the odds and punters expected, but Melbourne kept up more than I was anticipating.

 

Hawthorn            4.5          6.7          8.14        11.16 (82)

Melbourne         2.0          7.2          10.2        10.4 (64)

 

Goals: Hawthorn:  3 Gunston; 2 Breust, O’Brien; 1 Rioli, Hill, Stewart, Puopolo

Melbourne: 2 Kent, Watts; 1 Dawes, Petracca, Hogan, Vandenberg, Tyson, Jones

 

Best: Hawthorn: Mitchell, Gibson, Gunston, Lewis, Birchall, Smith

Melbourne: Tyson, Vince, Jones, Watts, T McDonald

 

Injuries: Gunston (ankle)

 

Reports: Vince

 

Crowd: 41 833

 

My votes: Gunston, Gibson, Jones

About Alan Stewart

My first VFL memory is perched on my grandfather's shoulders watching a game at Glenferrie Oval during the school holidays, probably about 1968. Other football immersion is from many hours assisting my father doing maintenance or selling savs at the Tarrawingee football ground during the 1970s.

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