PORT Adelaide has cruised to its sixth win of the season, making light work of a young Melbourne side in perfect conditions at AAMI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Power, sporting one-off guernseys designed by a young fan, set up the victory with a strong start and held the Demons off from there to run out 78-point victors – 18.21 (129) to 7.9 (51).
It was a sorry return for Melbourne coach Dean Bailey, formerly an assistant to his counterpart Mark Williams, and the Demons never threatened to end a losing streak at the venue that has stood since 2000.
While it would have been far from Bailey's mind, Melbourne will have some consolation in a priority pick in November's NAB AFL Draft.
The home side was led by five goals from Daniel Motlop, four kicked in the first half, while Peter Burgoyne (37 possessions), Domenic Cassisi (34), Kane Cornes (32) and David Rodan (22) had great games through the midfield and off half-back.
Generally wasteful, Melbourne won a lot of the ball with Paul Wheatley (31), Brad Green (26), James McDonald (26), Cale Morton (26) and Simon Buckley (32) among its better players.
Promising defenders Colin Garland and Stefan Martin worked hard in defence, keeping steel nerves in duress, while the experience of Matthew Whelan was also important.
The battle between Melbourne co-captain Cameron Bruce and Power onballer Shaun Burgoyne, his side's best player against Collingwood last week, was the afternoon's most intriguing but it fell Burgoyne's way as the game wore on. He finished with 25 touches.
Tenacity in the ruck was also maintained for the course of the contest, with Brendon Lade and Dean Brogan locking horns with Mark Jamar and Jeff White.
Lade and White had contrasting reasons to perform, with White almost certain to play his last game for the Demons next week, while the big Power ruckman did his future no harm with another solid outing that included two goals in the last quarter.
Daniel Motlop kicked a goal within the opening 90 seconds of the game and started a run for his side that included contributions from Danyle Pearce, Peter Burgoyne and two more of his own.
Melbourne offered little resistance, with a goal from Brad Miller its only score of the opening term, and trailed by 36 points at the first break.
Inaccurate kicking from both sides spoiled the start to the new quarter, and other stages of the game, and it was almost 14 minutes in when Motlop marked and converted.
Soon after, a bullocking Rodan pushed through the square for his first goal, only for the Demons to welcome a rare flash of brilliance when Bruce soared at the other end to kick his side's second.
Justin Westhoff closed the quarter for the Power, who were 48 points clear with a half to play.
Whether Melbourne dragged Port Adelaide down to its level or the Dees' defensive tactics finally paid off is uncertain, but the visitors won a grinding, arduous term that only generated 1.7 for the Power.
Austin Wonaeamirri and Matthew Bate found the sticks for Melbourne, but their side's skill level was forever worrying and over-possession set up dangerous counter-attacks from Port Adelaide.
With 45 points the margin at the final change, the Power's productivity on the rebound exploded with two goals to Lade in two minutes and a flurry of others that saw them surge home.
Jamar, Miller and Michael Newton had their replies, and encouraging Power debutant Marlon Motlop could have added his name to the list of goalkickers, but missed.
However, Travis Boak made no mistake with a long bomb that told the story of the afternoon.
The score stood despite Martin appearing to touch the ball as it sailed through.
Port Adelaide 6.6 9.10 10.17 18.21 (129)
Melbourne 1.0 2.4 4.8 7.9 (51)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: D. Motlop 5, J. Westhoff 2, M. Westhoff 2, Lade 2, P. Burgoyne 2, Pearce 2, Rodan, Cassisi, Boak
Melbourne: Miller 2, Bruce, Bate, Wonaeamirri, Jamar, Newton
BEST
Port Adelaide: P. Burgoyne, S. Burgoyne, Cassisi, D. Motlop, Logan, Brogan, Pearce
Melbourne: Wheatley, Buckley, McDonald, Garland, Morton
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Chaplin (knee)
Melbourne: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Head, Keating
Official crowd: 18,875 at AAMI Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
