I TIPPETT THIS!

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I TIPPETT THIS! by The Oracle

Melbourne underlined the fact that it will be a major improver among the AFL's sixteen clubs when it beat the elements and an ailing Adelaide in its Round 3 clash in swirly windswept conditions at the MCG.

While the Demons broke the ice for season 2010, the time has to crack open the champers has not come quite yet, because the game clearly demonstrated that the team has a fair way to go before it attains the level of skills required to go it with the elite clubs of the competition which the current Crows combination is certainly not.

The conditions under which the game was played certainly dictated that the 23,335 hardy souls who braved the elements to attend the game were not going to witness an exhibition of pretty football. In fact, the first half was an absolute eyesore.

Whereas a week ago, Melbourne and Collingwood fought out an epic contest under sunny Autumn skies, this contest reminded one of the old adage about our game being a winter game. The heavens opened as the game started, the winds squalled throughout and neither side was exactly on target with its disposal.

Moreover, while the Magpies went on the attack last week to salvage the game against the persistent and somewhat unlucky Demons, the Crows did what they do best and produced their own particular brand of dour defensive football replete with tight zones and, once they forged a lead of around 20 points in the early parts of the second quarter, they seemed content to hold their ground to break the opposition, rather than to grind them into the dirt as would most top teams.

This tactic almost succeeded when Adelaide added to its half time lead of 4.9.33 to 1.8.14 the first goal immediately after the main break to take a 25-point lead which, in terms of such a low scoring contest, seemed like an ever deepening chasm. Melbourne's only goal to that time, Brad Green's snap midway through the first term which broke a run of five behinds, was by then almost a distant memory.

The Demons of last year and the year before would have pliantly succumbed but not this lot. Led by an underrated skipper in James McDonald, another dominant ruck performance from Mark Jamar and a group of youngsters headed by key poisition defender James Frawley and young sidekick Jack Grimes, the aggressive new Demons of 2010 laid down the challenge and kicked the next two goals to halve the deficit and suddenly, it was game on.

Watching in the stands, you could sense the change in the game and you knew that Melbourne was in with a big chance to cause an upset. They had every cause to go on and win with a coach who had been under intense pressure just a week and a half earlier and an inspirational club president recovering from major surgery. And, importantly, they had something to prove for themselves.

Adelaide was truly wilting both physically and mentally under Melbourne's determined onslaught that eventuaklly yielded four goals - two of them to Matthew Bate and one each to youngsters Jamie Bennell and Jack Trengove (his first in the bigtime). Suddenly, the Demons were in unfamiliar territory. They held a lead, albeit a narrow one, at three quarter time.

The Crows looked bowed and beaten, their bench and rotations limited and yet, to their credit, it took most of the final term before the home team could break the deadlock and who better to kick a decisive goal than skipper James McDonald who received a long pass from Green with less than three minutes remaining? A minute later, a tap out from Jamar was roved by Nathan Jones and victory was secured.

There were many heroes in this game which saw a very even contribution across the board from all twenty-two players. Particular mention must go to the defence and to the contribution of Matthew Warnock who kept Kurt Tippett goalless. A little over a month ago, in a practice match in Elizabeth, South Australia, it was Tippet's five-goal haul that made the difference in a tight game that was decided with half a minute to go. After that game I bravely predicted that the Demons would win their next encounter if they could stop the Crows' big forward so I can now honestly say, "I Tippet this!"

Melbourne 1.5.11 1.8.14 5.11.41 7.15.57

Adelaide 2.5.17 4.9.33 5.10.40 5.11.41

Goals

Melbourne Bate 2 Bennell Green Jones McDonald Trengove

Adelaide Burton 3 Cooke Maric

Best

Melbourne Warnock Grimes Green Trengove Frawley McDonald

AdelaideVince Goodwin Doughty Thompson

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Adelaide Bock (hamstring) Dangerfield (shoulder) Hentschel

Reports Nil

Changes

Adelaide Schmidt replaced Stevens

MelbourneGarland replaced Sylvia

Umpires McBurney, Ryan, Armstrong

Crowd 23,335 at the MCG

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