Updated on
Summary The Melbourne Demons won for the first time this season in their 10th attempt.
The Melbourne Demons won after beating one of the Australian Football Leagues best teams in the process.The Demons, who lost to Sydney by 101 points two weeks ago, defeated second-place Essendon 8.10 (58) to 6.16 (52) Saturday. The Bombers had lost only one match going into the game and were heavily favored to hand the Demons another defeat in what has been a tumultuous period following the death to brain cancer of their former player and chief executive, Irish-born Jim Stynes, just before the season began.Melbourne trailed for much of the night but moved clear with three goals to one in the final quarter.New Melbourne coach Mark Neeld tried not to get too carried away.Theres a bit of a relief there, but Im also a big fan of being on the reality bus, Neeld said. Its round 10. Weve won one game.Essendon coach James Hird said it was a night to forget.We didnt convert our opportunities, we didnt win our contested footy, Hird said. The things that we think were good at we didnt do well tonight.The West Coast Eagles, who had also lost only once going into the weekend, were beaten Sunday by the Brisbane Lions, also a lower-ranked team this year, 16.6 (102) to 15.10 (100) in a match in which the lead changed hands a half-dozen times in the final 10 minutes.In late Sunday matches, Sydney played the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood took on Gold Coast.In another upset, Jay Schulz and Hamish Hartlett kicked three goals each to lead Port Adelaide to a 14.15 (99) to 6.9 (45) win over Carlton. The win was Ports third in a row and fourth of the season, one more than they managed all of last year.Defending premiers Geelong survived an impressive opening-half challenge from first-year side Greater Western Sydney to win their match by 65 points. The scores were level at quarter and halftime, but the Cats kicked clear in the third period to easily win 19.12 (126) to 9.7 (61) on Saturday.Geelong kicked 6.5 to 1.2 in the third quarter, and Giants coach Kevin Sheedy said he knew that spurt was coming.I said to the players (at halftime), you dont think Scott (Cats coach Chris Scott) is going to sit over there in the other grandstand and say nothing, Sheedy said. I said it was going to be a fearsome first 10 to 15 minutes in that third quarter, but we just didnt do the things we were supposed to.Lance Franklin booted a career-best 13 goals to lead Hawthorn to an 115-point win over North Melbourne at Launceston, Tasmania. Criticized for his accuracy during the week, Franklin improved on his nine-goal totals against Essendon in 2007 and 2008 with 13.4 as the Hawks won 27.12 (174) to 9.5 (59).Adelaide kicked the final five goals of the match to beat Fremantle 17.9 (111) to 12.10 (82). Forward Taylor Walker led the Crows with four goals, including two in the final quarter.On Friday, Jack Riewoldt kicked eight goals to lead Richmond to a 18.13 (121) to 16.17 (113) win over St. Kilda, the Tigers first win over St. Kilda in eight years. Riewoldt had six goals in last weekends win over Hawthorn, giving him an AFL-leading 31 goals for the season.
