There was also an incident at three-quarter time when Melbourne defender Harrison Petty was visibly distressed and Demons football manager Alan Richardson and his counterpart Danny Daly had an exchange. There was more than a little feeling in this game.
Again,the Demons were harder,Clayton Oliver setting the tone from the opening bounce,driving the ball forward,Pickett cleaning up the crumbs with just 20 seconds gone. Minutes later,Jake Lever roosted home his first goal for the year after Eric Hipwood fell into his back.
His teammates celebrated hard with the defender,and very soon,things started spinning out of control for the Lions. They began to play the way Melbourne wanted – conservatively – and Steven May began directing traffic from the backline like a lollipop man after school.