Late goals to Brian Lake and Ryan Griffen allowed the Bulldogs to hold off the fast-finishing Demons, 10.10 (70) to 9.12 (66).
With both sides sitting on three wins and three losses before the match, the match took on some extra significance with both sides coming together for the Field of Women match to raise awareness of breast cancer research.
But the match is likely to be remembered as much for its close finish as for a number of contentious decisions that went the Bulldogs' way, especially in the last quarter.
Lynden Dunn was denied a goal that the boundary umpire ruled as touched, while a deliberate out-of-bounds call against James Frawley in the final quarter gave Brian Lake a shot at goal - which he missed.
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said it was another missed opportunity for his young side, but is confident his charges would learn from the loss.
“We worked our way back into the game. It was more of a persistence that kept us in the game,” he said.
“Those aspects of the game from a learning perspective for our players and our club to go through are very worthwhile.”
“The more often we get put in these types of experiences, the greater the learning and the greater the experience our players have.”
But Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade admitted the win might just be the tonic for the red, white and blue to kick start its season.
“I spoke to the players after about that - I’ve been in a game a long time and have seen seasons or periods in a season turn because of things like winning ugly,” he said.
“You just have to hang in there - the pleasing thing being four goals up and than nine points down (was we were) able to get up and win - that showed a bit of steel and a bit of belief.”
Both sides struggled to adapt to the greasy conditions, but it was the Bulldogs who made more of their opportunities, booting 3.2 to Melbourne's wasteful six behinds.
With the Dogs increasing their margin to 22 points early in the second quarter, it was Aaron Davey and Jamie Bennell who set the MCG alight to reduce the deficit to just eight points at the main break.
The Demons started and finished the third quarter on fire, with late goals to Tom Scully and Nathan Jones reducing the margin to just three points going into the final quarter.
Matthew Bate kicked the first goal of the final quarter to give Melbourne the lead for the first time and the Dees looked to have sealed the contest through a goal to first- gamer Danny Hughes.
But the Bulldogs kept fighting, with Lake thrown forward to kick an important goal before Ryan Griffen snapped truly to put the Bulldogs in front.
Matthew Boyd had an immediate impact after missing the previous two weeks with a broken hand, kicking the first goal of the match and finishing with 19 possessions to be among the Dogs' best.
Shaun Higgins was also outstanding with 32 possessions, along with Daniel Giansiracusa (31).
For Melbourne, Tom Scully shone under the MCG lights, collecting 39 possessions and revelling in the difficult conditions, Jack Trengove continued his excellent form with 26 disposals and Bate finished with three goals.
The Bulldogs will look to make it back to back wins as they travel to Canberra to take on the Sydney Swans, while the Demons face the West Coast Eagles at the MCG next Saturday afternoon.
Melbourne 0.6 3.9 7.10 9.12 (66)
Western Bulldogs 3.2 5.5 8.7 10.10 (70)
GOALS
Melbourne: Bate 3, Davey, Bennell, Green, Jones, Scully, Hughes
Western Bulldogs: Hill 2, Higgins, Stack, Boyd, Grant, Everitt, Akermanis, Griffen, Lake
BEST
Melbourne: Scully, Trengove, Bate, Bruce, Jones, McDonald, Davey, Warnock
Western Bulldogs: Higgins, Giansiracusa, Hudson, Boyd, Cross, Hill
INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, McBurney, Findlay
Official crowd: 45,444 at the MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
