Melbourne produced a scintillating third quarter to bury Western Bulldogs and cement finals hopes

IT CAME a day after Friday the 13th but there was something seriously scary about 13 minutes of football from Melbourne as Max Gawn put on a ruck masterclass against the Western Bulldogs.

Max Gawn battles Marcus Adams in the ruck.

IT CAME a day after Friday the 13th but there was something seriously scary about 13 minutes of football from Melbourne.

Another ‘not again’ moment loomed large early in the third quarter for long-suffering Demons supporters who had become accustomed to having little trust in their team.

The 14th placed Western Bulldogs – a side with just five wins to their name this season – led the contest at the MCG by four points after a Patrick Lipinski goal four minutes after half-time.

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But this Melbourne side has a better gearbox than a Ferrari and went from second gear to sixth in the blink of an eye.

In the space of 13 minutes in the third quarter, the Demons turned a four-point deficit into a 38-point lead, with seven unanswered goals.

And for fellow finals contenders this year it would have been frightening to watch.

Jack Macrae and Max Gawn get to know one another.

Jesse Hogan celebrates a goal in the third quarter. Picture: Michael Klein

The best tap ruckman in the competition – Max Gawn – was the catalyst, along with two of the best young midfielders going around in Clayton Oliver and Angus Brayshaw.

Then, most importantly, a forward line which has not been as efficient as coach Simon Goodwin would have liked this year finished off the good work from up the ground.

Like reigning premier Richmond, the Demons have any number of avenues to goal.

They had 10 goal kickers, half of whom booted multiple majors.

The twin towers of Jesse Hogan (four goals) and Tom McDonald (three goals) continue to cause headaches for opposition defences, as do the smaller brigade which includes Charlie Spargo, Jeff Garlett and Alex Neal-Bullen, who each got on the end of two goals.

In all, it was a game which delivered an impressive 18 goals among 29 scoring shots from just 52 inside-50s.

Jason Johannisen in his 100th AFL game. Picture: Michael Klein

Alex Neal-Bullen celebrates a goal in the third quarter. Picture: Michael Klein

But we all already knew the Demons could score – they rank first in the competition for scores for and have now scored over 100 points in 11 games this season.

What Goodwin would have been most pleased with from this game was holding the Bulldogs to 10 goals from their 57 inside-50s, including just four after half-time.

That was his message during the week, that “really refining our defensive actions within our team and making us an even harder team to play against”.

For the Bulldogs it was another forgettable second half, Luke Beveridge’s side still with just two second half wins this season.

The Dogs have shown to be able to run with some of the better teams for 60 minutes over recent weeks but that’s where it stops for a young side which simply falls to pieces after that.

As for the Demons though, with 10 wins now on the board something would have to go drastically wrong for them not to qualify for their first finals series since 2006.

And if they can maintain sixth gear for a little more than 13 minutes, watch out.

MELBOURNE 3.4 6.9 14.9 18.11 (119)

WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.1 6.6 9.9 10.9 (69)

BEST

Demons: Brayshaw, Hogan, Gawn, Oliver, Neal-Bullen, Melksham, Salem, Harmes.

Bulldogs: Macrae, Wallis, Hunter, Dunkley, Gowers, Schache.

GOALS

Demons: Hogan 4, McDonald 3, Garlett 2, Neal-Bullen 2, Spargo 2, Petracca, Melksham, Oliver, Hannan, Lewis.

Bulldogs: Wallis 3, Schache 2, Johannisen 2, Hunter, Lipinski, McLean.

INJURIES

Demons: Mitch Hannan (Melb) replaced Jack Viney (toe) in the selected team.

UMPIRES

Brown, Chamberlain, Jeffery

CROWD

30,305 at the MCG

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