A brave West Coast Eagles fell short of a miraculous victory in one of the most bizarre matches in the history of the AFL at Optus Stadium tonight.
Seven minutes into the fourth quarter West Coast Eagles and Melbourne players were sent to the sanctuary of their respective change rooms because of lightning in the area.
They waited for a designated 20 minutes, but then needed another 10 minute cushion to
ensure there was no more electrical storm activity in the area before being able to resume.
When played was halted the Demons led 10.9 (69) to 5.6 (36) and had play not resumed that would have been the final score.
It gave the Eagles the opportunity to regroup and reset, knowing they needed to find something special to unseat a team aiming for a victory that would send them to the top of the table.
And the Eagles made the most of it, surging home but eventually running out of time and going down by nine points.
They kicked four answered goals after the resumption, the comeback triggered by a Josh Kennedy goal, after he had missed a chunk of the game with a knee injury.
It was a bold fightback, but the damage was done in the third term.
The first half was an absorbing battle in every sense. With showers falling in the lead-up to the bounce, the ground had a coating of water, bodies soaking it up every time the ball hit the deck.
And the pressure and intensity level was through the roof; well it would have been if there was a roof on Optus Stadium.
Players from both teams were committed and it was a matter of Melbourne making the most of their opportunities as they held a 14-point lead at the first break – 4.2 (26) to 2.0 (12).
The battle between Nic Naitanui and Max Gawn was symptomatic of the match with both big men having their moments and when they controlled the air, their ground level soldiers went to work more efficiently.
Unfortunately on the stroke of quarter-time 301-game veteran Shannon Hurn left the ground with a hamstring strain and was replaced by medical sub Zac Landon.
Despite the loss of Hurn, the backline held up well with Jeremy McGovern, Tom Cole and Alex Witherden leading the way.
With Elliot Yeo, Dom Sheed and Tim Kelly leading the way through the middle, the Eagles looked dangerous when moving inside the attacking arc.
Kennedy and Jamie Cripps were working extremely hard in conjunction with Jack Darling and ever-threatening.
Deep into the second term they led for the first time in the game, denied only by a late goal to Kysaiah Pickett, converting after the siren to see the Dees lead 5.3 (33) to 4.5 (29) at the main break.
The efficiency of Melbourne proved decisive in the third quarter when they broke the game open to lead by 32 points at the last change.
The Eagles kicked just one goal for the term, a precision kick from the boundary by Jack Redden, but otherwise it belonged to the Dees.
West Coast's cause was not assisted by the absence of Kennedy, who appeared to injure a knee in a marking contest early in the quarter. He went to the rooms to get treatment, returned and found the Demons had too much run.
Details
Melbourne 4.2 5.3 10.8 10.12 72
West Coast Eagles 2.0 4.5 5.6 9.9 63
Goals – Melbourne: Brown 3; Neale-Bullen, Melksham 2; Petracca, Harmes, Pickett. West Coast Eagles: Cripps, Kennedy, Darling 2; West, Naitanui, Redden.
Best – Melbourne: Petracca, Harmes, Gawn, Oliver, Brown, Salem. West Coast Eagles: Yeo, Redden, Kelly, Cripps, Nelson, Naitanui, McGovern.
Injuries – West Coast Eagles Shanon Hurn (hamstring) replaced by Zac Langdon. Jayden Hunt (ankle) replaced by Aaron vandenBerg.
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