1998 Premiership Season

Goals: Carey 8, Grant 5, King 2

Best: Carey, Grant, King

North Melbourne has continued its charge towards the top of the AFL Ladder with a 10 goal thrashing of Melbourne at the MCG. Carey again started for the Roos being ably supported by Grant, King and Harvey. Melbourne got the first goal of the game after Farmer profited from a collision between Hewitt and Scott. Hewitt has an unhappy knack of running into his team mates. Neitz lead out in front of Hewitt to mark soon after, if North was going to lose this game it was going to be because we didn't have enough quality talls in the back line. He really should have had a 50 metre penalty after getting a late high tackle from Grant, lucky for us though the umpire didn't see it and Neitz missed his shot from 50. Carey got North rolling he popped though his first after getting away from Ingerson and marking on a lead. He also had a hand in the next goal , he just got a touch on the ball that sent it clear of the pack into the arms of the running Rock who flicked it out to Grant who finished with his usual polish. Poor defence by North gave Melbourne their second goal, Neitz being left alone in the goal square to receive a hand ball and kick the goal. Harvey feed off Carey again to have another shot on goal, he missed the shot under pressure though but it didn't matter much as North was able to get the ball back from the Melbourne kick out and pump the ball back into the sqaure were Simpson took a big mark and kicked the goal.

Harvey and Grant were both playing good games they combined to give North another chance but Grant seemed to be in two minds as to whether to shot or pass and he missed it badly. Carey got his second goal after marking a miss kick by Stevens and kicking though the goal post high from 50 metres out. North were dominant in midfield despite Stevens being relatively quite, Roberts missed a gettable one on the run. Melbourne had a number of chances, Farmer hit the post and Neitz missed a goal. North kept the pressure up on the Dees, Carey putting though his third goal of the quarter using all the skills of Alan Shearer to soccer the ball through and followed it up with another minutes later. Carey is certainly in good form, I hope he can hold it though the finals series if he does the forth flag is in the bag, he takes the opposition apart with such ease. Smith always on for the high fly tied for mark of the year, rising high in the forward pocket but crashing without the ball into the point post. Simpson missed a shot on the run as the runner berated Hewitt for breaking team rules and not providing a Shepherd for his team mate. At three quarter time North looked well in control and lead by three goals.

McKernan was involved in a clash of bodies early in the term seemingly hurting his troublesome right knee but he waved off the concerns of trainers and played on. Simpson had another chance for North but missed, it was good he was getting a lot of opportunities but he was wasting them. Melbourne got the first goal but Shannon Grant answered back straight away to hold the lead steady at three goals. Mark Roberts was unlucky not to be paid a mark at half forward but the ball spilled to Grant who put the ball out in front of Carey who marked and goaled. Carey now has Shannahan on him after Ingersons misguided attempts to stop him. Carey had another chance soon after but the kick was disappointing and a point resulted. Carey had a bit of a bad patch , I suppose we expect him to be at his superb best at all time but he had the ball passed to him perfectly by Shannon Grant but Carey spilled the mark to him own disgust. Melbourne started their fight back, kicking the next three goals, one from a soft 50. Gary Lyon was starting to look dangerous for the Demons up forward and North's lead was now down to only 7 points. Evan Hewitt got a much needed steadier for the Roos before Pickett delivered another of his trade mark bumps to a Melbourne midfielder. The midweek publicity about the lack of frees given to Carey didn't have much affect, he was being bear hugged by Shanahan without getting a free. Melbourne had lifted significantly and added another though Gary Lyon, it took a wonderful individual effort from Harvey to again steady North. Harvey smothered the defender trying to clear ran onto his own rebound and drilled the goal on the run. McKernan and Martyn collided heavily at Centre half back but both of them shook it off. North lead by 14 points at the main break. The game could go either way at this stage North were much better early but missed a number of chances that could have finished off the Demons.

Melbourne continued their good form early in the third, Neitz kicked the first goal of the term and Melbourne followed it with another after being on the end of a contentious holding the ball decision. Darren Crocker and John Longmire were both brought on for their first runs of the game. Longmire went into the ruck allowing McKernan to drop back onto Neitz in the backline. North had become wasteful when moving into attack struggling to find a target. Melbourne took the lead 10 minutes into the quarter Neitz wining a foot race with Sholl to fire the demons into the lead. Carey though as usual came to the fore when it mattered and kicked a great goal to grab back the lead. It went goal for goal for a while, the game was a great spectacle both sides going in hard, Gary Lyon got one for Melbourne then Shannon Grant again regained North's lead. North began to lift late in the quarter, David King kicked a wonderful running goal to stretch North's lead. Craig Sholl and a number of chances late on, he missed them all but at least North's forward line was functioning better then it had done earlier in the quarter. Interestingly North didn't try playing an empty forward line and running back with the flight as they have done in previous weeks, might be saving it for the finals. North lead by 13 at the last change and had successfully fought off the spirited Melbourne charge.

Pickett took out another Melbourne player early in the last quarter, this time it was Travis Johnson was had the bad luck to be on the end of a bone jarring bump. Jeff White had a chance to get the Demons off to a flying start but missed, Carey too ran into an open goal but stabbed at the kick on the run from 40 metres out and missed it. McKernan tried bombing a huge goal but had it touched on the line and it was left to David King to again inspire the team with a running goal beating four Melbourne defenders. Although the scores were close North had had 30 scoring shots to 19 and had been very wasteful in front of goal. A fortunate bounce gave Melbourne the goal they desperately needed to get back into the contest. They went forward again from the centre bounce only to hit the post. It proved to be Melbourne's last stand and North took over the game completely from that moment on ward. North finally got a free kick which nearly got a standing ovation from the North fans in the Southern Stand, I am not sure what the free kick count was but we didn't seem to be getting many of them. North pulled away with goals from Roberts and Chandler and then Carey got back into top gear throwing off the shackles that had been fairly well applied by Shannahan in the third term. He kicked four quick goals making it look easy, he even put on a goal saving tackle in Melbourne's attacking goal square to save a goal. Grant managed to get himself another one after finding himself lying on the ground in the goal square within kicking distance of the ball, North ran over the top of the Demons Blakey got one and then Abraham who had had a quite day kicked one after the siren. The game had been so close for most of the game but in the last 10 minutes North dominated and when I looked up for the final scores North were suddenly 10 goals to the good.

After the game Later, Melbourne coach Neale Daniher said "They go the distance, don't they?". "Strong for four quarters. They were . . . we weren't. It was a lesson for our blokes." North are now very well positioned only one game off top spot with the games ahead not being too difficult a top two position and a real shot at the flag beckons.