Sunday hurt, more so than any other loss this season, and for the fans that turned out, come the final siren we were a sad, angry and severely tormented lot. Tears were welling up in my eyes, more out of frustration than anything else, but kid a few rows back could not hide his disappointment – head in his hands and sobbing.

It was a game that allowed us to get emotional because we came so close to winning it. For the first time in six weeks I rose to my feet in celebration when we goaled. We hadn’t been treated to this level of excitement all season, so we let our guard down, rolled with it, sensed a victory and thought we were finally about to get hoarse singing the song.

It was a much improved team effort though, with a four-quarter contribution coming from most a field. Special mention to Godder’s for his constant endeavor and tagging Shaun Burgoyne right out of the game. Lynden Dunn did a fantastic job at quelling Chad Cornes’s dominance in the second half and Matthew Bate (great hands), Nathan Jones and Ricky Petterd are little beauties. Welcome back to the Skipper too, what a difference a focal point down forward makes.

In the end, we let ourselves down. We had every opportunity to win the game off our own boot, but skill errors and lack of conversion cost us dearly.

I was meant to be heading to the pub for a mate’s farewell, but I was in no state for socialising. I hit rock bottom. But then I watched the Tigers match and realised it could be so much worse.

You never know people, this loss could be a season-defining moment, and we might come out hungrier than ever against the Dogs. Think back to Round 3 last year, we came just as close to beating the Crows and a dubious umpiring decision was a major factor in our loss there too. The following week we bounced back.

I’ll cling to anything I can at the moment. So I say this is more than just sheer coincidence and a spirited and desperate Demon outfit will hit Telstra Dome Sunday, with a won’t take anything but a win attitude to serve it right up to the Bulldogs (who are returning from a taxing trip to Perth).

Here’s hoping that the thought of registering our first win and preventing Aker from his show-pony antics at games end might just get us over the line.

Please Note: The views and opinions expressed in the above article are that solely of the author and do not reflect the opinions of MELBOURNEfc.