THE WESTERN Bulldogs have handed Melbourne its second consecutive hiding with a 95-point win at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
The Dogs ensured the pain of the Demons' round one 104-point loss continued for another week with the 24.17 (161) to 9.12 (66) win in difficult conditions in front of a crowd of 27,821.
It may have been a game that failed to match the dizzying heights set by the Bulldogs' thrilling round one win over Adelaide, but the winners were nonetheless able to claim plenty of positives from it.
A 15-goals-to-four second half saw the Dogs put together their biggest win since round one, 2006.
Young forward Josh Hill a key part of the victory, with the 19-year-old booting 3.1 for the afternoon and looking to be a player for the future with his thrilling efforts around goal.
However, both sides were hit hard on the injury front with respective small forwards Shaun Higgins and Aaron Davey carried from the field in the third term with ankle injuries.
The unrelated incidents happened about 10 minutes apart but were eerily similar as both were helped off in considerable pain by trainers.
While Nathan Eagleton didn't play because of soreness from an ankle injury last weekend, his replacement in former Cat Tim Callan – playing in his first home-and-away game for his new club – did well to quell the influence of Davey early on.
Robert Murphy was excellent in booting four goals after starting down back, while Scott Welsh, Jason Akermanis, Daniel Cross and Brad Johnson managed three apiece.
The midfield brigade of Cross (31 possessions), Scott West (26) and Matthew Boyd (30) also offered solid contributions.
Mitch Hahn was terrific with 13 touches and one goal while Adam Cooney collected plenty of it and enjoyed a battle with 200-gamer James McDonald in the first half.
For the Demons, positive performances were few and far between, but Nathan Jones and Brad Green worked hard all afternoon.
As expected, Brian Lake squared off with Melbourne skipper David Neitz, while Dale Morris took the other key forward in Russell Robertson.
The combined output of the Demons' pair was 4.2, while Callan took Davey and Cameron Wight faced Paul Johnson.
Up the other end, Johnson was assigned Cameron Bruce as his direct opponent, while Will Minson won Brad Miller, Shaun Higgins had Daniel Bell, and Murphy and Paul Wheatley duelled, although both started as loose men in their respective defensive halves.
It was a fairly nondescript first term in which the Demons drew first blood and kicked the opening goal just two minutes in. They held the lead for the majority of the quarter but their biggest margin was only eight points, which the Bulldogs reeled in as the clock wound down.
A behind to Murphy shortly before the siren gave the Dogs a one-point lead at quarter time, which signalled the beginning of the end for the Demons, who would not hit the front again.
In the second term, the Bulldogs slowly began to blow out the margin.
Hill opened the goalkicking account with an impressive six-pointer from the goal square after a smooth delivery from West, and Welsh followed up minutes later with an exciting midair major right on the goal line.
The Dogs put together seven goals to three in the second quarter and held a 25-point lead at the main break.
While the Demons were dominating the clearances with 17 to nine, the Bulldogs were winning on the inside 50 count – and were clearly making those entries count.
In the second half it was largely one-way traffic. The Dogs simply had more firepower and scoring options, and after getting on top in the middle, managed to shatter the confidence of Melbourne with a nine-goals-to-two third term.
Seven different goalkickers contributed for the Dogs in that quarter, with Akermanis popping up to snare three. The flurry of goals set up an unbeatable 70-point lead.
As threatening black clouds gathered overhead, things got progressively bleaker for the Demons. The Dogs went on to outscore the home side five goals to two in the final stanza, with midfielder Cross capping off his day with a three-goal burst.
The Bulldogs have less than a week to regroup before they face St Kilda at Telstra Dome on Friday night, while Melbourne has possibly the toughest task in football with an appointment with the premiers at Skilled Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.5 9.9 18.13 24.17 (161)
MELBOURNE: 2.4 5.8 7.9 9.12 (66)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Murphy 4, Hill 3, Welsh 3, Akermanis 3, Johnson 3, Cross 3, Gilbee, Wight, Hahn, Griffen, Giansiracusa
Melbourne: Neitz 2, Robertson 2, White 2, Davey, Green, Jones
BEST: Western Bulldogs: Murphy, Cross, Hahn, West, Boyd, Hill, Cooney, Griffen, Gilbee
Melbourne: Jones, Wheatley, White, Green
INJURIES: Western Bulldogs: Eagleton (ankle) replaced in selected side by Callan, Higgins (ankle)
Melbourne: Davey (sprained foot)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Kamolins, Ryan
Official crowd: 27,821 at the MCG.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
