NAB Challenge: Melbourne defeats Western Bulldogs by seven points at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat

MELBOURNE survived a final-term flourish from a speedy Western Bulldogs side in Ballarat to win its first match of the pre-season.

BALLARAT, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Dom Tyson of the Demons kicks as Jack Viney of the Demons shepherds Marcus Bontempelli of the Bulldogs during the NAB Challenge AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and the Melbourne Demons at Eureka Stadium on March 14, 2015 in Ballarat, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE supporters at Ballarat on Saturday night would be forgiven for driving home rubbing their eyes.

A top-10 draft pick setting up a big win with a pinpoint midfielder performance and attacking ball movement riveting the crowd?

That’s what second-year classy mover Christian Salem and his Demons provided, dramatically improving on last week to finish with 24 disposals in a seven-point win against the Western Bulldogs.

SUPERCOACH SCORES: DEMONS V BULLDOGS

It was a first half filled with highlights for the Demons – admittedly against effectively Footscray’s VFL side with a small sprinkling of wise heads after Tom Boyd, Mitch Wallis and Liam Picken were late outs of an already weakened team.

But the Pups stole the show in the second half, cutting a nine-goal lead to seven points and threatening to pinch a shock win in the dying minutes.

New Dogs coach Luke Beveridge would have driven home thrilled after a successful day at puppy school with six players lining up in their maiden senior match.

“(Salem’s) ball use off halfback and his contest was really good. I consider him a new player, because he’s playing a new role, but they make a difference,” Dees coach Paul Roos said.

“The last 40 minutes was poor, but I guess that’s pre-season footy.”

Christian Salem excelled running from half back against the Bulldogs in Ballarat. Photo by Quinn Rooney.

As sacked Dogs coach Brendan McCartney watched on from the Dees box, Melbourne’s ball movement was remarkably swifter, abolishing the stop-start gameplan which frustrated in 2014.

“It’s certainly something we’ve been working on really hard because we acknowledged we improved a lot defensively last year but we weren’t able to get our ball movement right,” he said.

“The first half was the way we want to play our football and we showed some of the real improvement we’ve tried to make over the break.”

Brighton Grammar boy Salem often found himself in space and streaking through Eureka Stadium, while his handball on knees in the second quarter showed eagle vision to set up a Daniel Cross goal.

It found Jay Kennedy-Harris, who spotted goalkicker Daniel Cross.

Kennedy-Harris caught fire in the second quarter, while Carlton recruit Jeff Garlett showed how much he will love life at the feet of Jesse Hogan.

Garlett slotted the first two goals and used his blistering speed to evade danger and find Chris Dawes, who slammed home Melbourne’s sixth goal with the Pups stuck on one point.

The Demons seemed to kill the contest in the first quarter, leading by 13 points despite kicking into the wind.

They also won the disposal count 128-42, with the young Dogs’ tally nearly matched by Heritier Lumumba, Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn and Salem (10 each).

Tom McDonald gets the better of Tom Campbell. Photo by Quinn Rooney.

Joel Hamling clunked a strong mark at full-back to deny opponent Sam Frost an easy goal as he fights for a starting place in the backline.

Ayce Cordy snapped the Dogs’ first goal in the second term and Mitch Honeychurch showed he should be in the Round 1 side, outworking most on the field in front of 5109 fans.

Big spearhead Jack Redpath inspired the Dogs in the first quarter, sprinting after Lynden Dunn and then following up to nail Heritier Lumumba and win a free kick.

Then there was Lin Jong. The emerging midfielder who is set for a big year got off the chain in the first quarter, winning the ball at halfback and carrying it 60m before his supergoal attempt faded left.

Jong kicked a crucial last-quarter goal as the tide turned in the second half.

The Dogs, playing their first home game in Ballarat with matches for premiership points to start from 2017, slowly morphed into the better stoppage side and the scoreboard dominance flowed.

Marcus Bontempelli gave the Dogs their highlight, roving a ball from a stoppage and snapping truly from 45m, his side’s third consecutive third-quarter goal.

With Matthew Boyd and Brett Goodes sparking up, Cordy snapped the Dogs’ sixth-straight goal in the last term to give the Dees a mega fright.

Lumumba and substitute Jack Watts combined to kick the sealer, but it was a successful day at puppy school for new Dogs coach Luke Beveridge.

Marcus Bontempelli inspired the Bulldogs in the second half. Photo by Quinn Rooney.

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNT

1) THE Demons’ recruits should all play Round 1. Sam Frost (GWS) showed nice toe and surprisingly lined up in attack, Jeff Garlett (Carlton) had the Dogs’ defenders sweating, Ben Newton (Port Adelaide) excelled with his ball use and Heritier Lumumba (Collingwood) was damaging as a running defender.

2) MELBOURNE’S ball movement suddenly looked un-Paul Roos-like. Admittedly pitted against a weakened opposition, but the pace and spread constantly led to the Demons spotting free players inside 50. Six second-quarter goals exemplified that.

3) THERE are no signs of second-year blues for Rising Star runner-up Marcus Bontempelli. The long-haired youngster improved as the game went on, snapping a brilliant goal from a stoppage and leading the Dogs’ clearance count in Tom Liberatore’s absence.

4) BULLDOGS fans will enjoy going to the footy a lot more this year. The brand of slow, contested ball appears dead and when they got going after halftime yesterday it was a dazzling mix of breakaway speed and quick movement in the forward line to create chaos.

5) MATTHEW Boyd still has it. The veteran – who started at halfback – ignited the Bulldogs’ remarkable comeback last night, gathering seven last-quarter disposals. Set for a halfback role this year, Luke Beveridge might be tempted to throw him back where he seems to belong.

Originally published as NAB Challenge: Melbourne defeats Western Bulldogs by seven points at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat