TWO OUT OF TWO IS BETTER

TWO OUT OF TWO IS BETTER (ADELAIDE JINX BURIED) by The Oracle

Melbourne dusted off the cobwebs of a long pre season and laid to rest a decade long jinx at AAMI Stadium with a triumphant double on the opening night of NAB Cup action in Adelaide.

After a tentative start against the Crows when the Demon defence looked all at sea, they turned things around to set up the first victory of the tournament by dominating the latter part of the first half with four consecutive goals.

Melbourne's goals all came about as a result of brilliant play and, though there's still a long way to go, it's a fair call to suggest that its forward line will be an exciting place in 2011.

The long wait for Addam Maric's arrival in the game might be over. He was busy throughout and was rewarded with goals in each half and, while he needs to work on his disposal, he proved a handful for the Adelaide defenders. Jack Watts is developing a presence as he grows physically. He is a great decision maker and reads the game so well. He intercepted an Adelaide kick-out and ran into an open goal to announce that he is going to be a headache for opposition defenders in 2011. But that's not all because the excitement machine Liam Jurrah had the crowd on its feet when he out marked two opponents in front of goals.

Brad Green had a big start to his night. He had ten disposals in this game including a nice goal from a strong mark in the first half and led the team well on debut as skipper.

Melbourne was on top in the rucks through the agency of Mark Jamar and Stefan Martin and got good drive through Neville Jetta, Rohan Bail, Jack Trengove and Colin Sylvia but, as the game proceeded, the shining lights of the team's effort came in defence.

Colin Garland was in sparkling form in defence in the absence of Frawley and Warnock while Jack Grimes, with great poise and balance showed why he has been elevated to the leadership group. Both finished with eleven disposals. Grimes didn't waste a single one. They were well backed up by Jared Rivers and Clint Bartram.

Both teams had plenty of absent players - understandable at this time of the year especially given the structure of the NAB Cup competition. This allowed for the introduction of some new faces and midfielder Michael Evans, while a little wasteful with his disposal, was the most impressive for the Demons.

After ten years of waiting since David Schwarz and Andrew Leoncelli combined for a last gasp goal so very long ago, a victory was achieved at last for the Dees in the City of Churches - 0.5.4.34 to 0.3.6.24.

Melbourne 0.4.3.27 0.5.4.34 defeated Adelaide 0.1.3.9 0.3.6.24

Goals:

Melbourne Maric 2 Green, Jurrah Watts

Adelaide McKernan 2 Douglas

Best:

Melbourne Grimes Garland Green Jurrah Maric Bail

Adelaide Dangerfield McKernan Otten Martin

Injuries:

Melbourne nil

Adelaide nil

Reports:

Melbourne nil

Adelaide nil

Umpires: Armstrong Nichols Vozzo

After waiting ten long years for a win at AAMI Stadium, the Demons took less than an hour to dispose of Port Power to move on to the quarter final stage of the NAB Cup.

The hard part for Melbourne about this stanza of the night's competition was how its players would stand up against the fresher legs of their opponents, especially as the locals had first use of the breeze which had freshened over the past hour.

There was no need to worry although a defensive error (and the ridiculous last touch rule) set up a nine pointer early in the game for Brad Ebert. Jack Trengove chipped in a nice snap to start proceedings and later in the first half the Demons fought their way into contention with goals to Lynden Dunn and Matthew Bate who scored his after the siren. With the Demons trailing by just four points at the main break, they controlled proceedings with the wind in the second half but took their time to hit the front with the strong breeze at their backs.

Colin Sylvia was outstanding and Aaron Davey provided some devastating run but equally impressive was Neville Jetta who is showing great improvement after a lacklustre 2010. Lucas Cook surprised with how far advanced he is so early in his career and Tom McDonald showed some promise in his short stint on the ground.

As with Liam Jurrah in the first game, it was a contested pack mark that broke the opposition's heart. This time it came from Jack Watts who outthought two opponents and his resulting shot for goal put Melbourne in front. A few minutes later it was Liam Jurrah who dealt the killer blow with a snap that sealed the game.

Melbourne 0.3.1.19 0.5.6.36 defeated Port Adelaide 1.2.2.23 1.2.6.27

Goals:

Melbourne Bate Dunn Jurrah Trengove Watts

Port Adelaide Banner Broadbent Ebert (supergoal)

Best:

Melbourne Sylvia Watts Trengove Jetta Coo

Port Adelaide D Motlop Cassisi Thomas

Injuries:

Melbourne nil

Port Adelaide nil

Reports:

Melbourne nil

Port Adelaide nil

Umpires Jeffery Stewart Rosebury