[Demonland]

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR by SA Demon  

Melbourne almost pulled off an improbable victory in the NAB Cup Challenge against Adelaide at Elizabeth, going down to the Crows  by a mere 2 points thanks to a goal to Kurt Tippett in the dying seconds. 

While it was a case of close but no cigar and there were other disappointments in the form of injuries suffered, the Melbourne hierarchy would be happy about the team's application, its refusal to give up and the fact that it was more than just competitive in tough circumstances and in foreign territory. 

The Demons had a difficult afternoon. A very young and inexperienced team came over and endured a bumpy ride and a longer than expected flight to Adelaide due to the wild weather conditions. To make matters worse, they lost Liam Jurrah and Daniel Bell to serious shoulder injuries in the first quarter and Michael Newton in the second although his was not bad enough to curtail his day altogether.  

The Demons started slowly giving the Crows a 19 point lead before mounting a great fightback scoring the next seven goals to go into the rooms at the main break by the same margin of 19 points.

Adelaide struck back with four unanswered goals before Melbourne steadied with a late goal in the third to leave them trailing by just three points at orange time. 

The Demons had the better of the last quarter but botched four consecutive shots at goal from close range before Ricky Petterd slotted his fourth goal to give them a four point lead with less than a minute to go but a free to the Crows in the last few seconds sealed the win for the home club.

The main thing Melbourne can take from the game is the form of its younger brigade. For a club that has sadly lacked star quality for so long, fans will be inspired when the top two draft picks of 2009 get into the swing of AFL football. Tom Scully and Jack Trengove showed they are well on their way and the Demons' third  pick (11 overall) Jordan Gysberts showed that he is not far behind them. 

Ricky Petterd with four goals was good again and Jack Grimes, James Frawley and Kyle Cheney were among the better players. Rohan Bail played his best game while a "young" James McDonald produced some inspiring leadership by example. 

Jordie McKenzie, James Strauss and Tom McNamara all showed signs of promise for the future.

While Melbourne will miss the services of Jurrah and Bell along with Cale Morton who sustained a knee  injury last week, the team is due to get a swag of regular players back next Saturday for the last of the scheduled practice matches against the West Coast Eagles at Casey Fields. 

Melbourne   3.0,18 7.2 8.3.51 10.7.67  

Adelaide 3.2.20 3.7.25 7.12.54 9.15.69

Goals

Melbourne Petterd 4 Maric Miller 2 Jurrah Scully   

Adelaide Tippett 5 Cook Gunston Petrenko Thompson

Best

Melbourne Scully Petterd Trengove Grimes McDonald Maric Gysberts Frawley

Adelaide Dangerfield Tippett Cook Goodwin Rutten Petrenko  
 
Umpires

Injuries 

Melbourne Bell (dislocated left AC joint) Jurrah (dislocated right shoulder) Newton (shoulder).  
 
Adelaide McLeod (back spasms) 

Reports Nil

Crowd 5000 (approx) at Elizabeth Oval.