Tonight’s match of AFL will be called by our 6PR call team, Adam Papalia, Karl Langdon, Glen Jakovich and Lee Spurr. Bouncedown at 6.10pm AWST, the 7th placed West Coast host a struggling Melbourne Demons, who currently sit in 15th. It is a re-match of last year’s Elimination Final, which the Eagles won by 66 points. One late change for the home side, Eagles have replaced Will Schofield (general soreness) for Tom Hickey, and will go into tonight’s clash with two ruckmen. Willie Rioli was named during the week for his first game of the season, after a stress injury in his left foot has seen him sidelined this year. He replaced Jake Waterman (omit.) in the side. “A hot tempo” out there at Optus Stadium despite the cold weather, and as we head into the quarter time break Melbourne lead by 2 points. Rioli has a goal in his first quarter back and Josh Kennedy has 2, while Hunt, Petracca and Jones all have singles for Melbourne, who lead 3.2.20 to 3.4.22. Eagles have piled the pressure on to the Demons, leading the tackle count 18 to 9, but the Demons will be disappointed after missing some very kick-able goals in the first term. Melbourne still maintain ascendancy, and are up by 9 in a tight contest with 8 minutes to play in the second quarter. It has been a long quarter, after Daniel Venables required a stretcher after he appeared to be knocked out quite severely in an incident. Venables was going back with the flight and made contact with a Melbourne player’s hip. Eagles will now have to finish the match with 1 less rotation. Tom Hickey also went down in the second term, but runs out with the side to start the third quarter. He has been valiant against Max Gawn tonight, and Eagles will want his presence if they are going to come back in this match. The Eagles trail at half time 38 to 34. A second concussion, this time it is Melbourne player Alex Neal-Bullen who has been concussed and looks like he will not return to the game. Both benches now down to 3 rotations. With a minute to play in the 3rd quarter, Josh Kennedy scores his fourth and pegs the margin back to 13 points, after Melbourne had gotten it out to a game high 19 points. A much needed goal before the final break. The intensity has lifted in the last quarter, some desperate tackles in the Eagles back line and it looks like they’ve lifted. The first goal from Luke Shuey, a tough shot from the boundary seems to have inspired his side, and then Jamie Cripps capitalizes at the top of the square to tie up the match! Two quick goals from the Eagles to start the last quarter. A phenomenal fight back from the Eagles, a 6 goal to 1 final term sees West Coast win by 16 points. Melbourne had four more scoring shots, but kicked 9.15 to 13.7. Liam Ryan has taken what could be the mark of the season, Josh Kennedy kicks 4, but it was Shannon Hurn and Elliot Yeo who led from the front with massive performances to help carry the Eagles over the line.<doc-sep>Tom McDonald has emerged from a form slump to keep Melbourne’s season alive in an extraordinary finish at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night. You had to see it to believe it. Gold Coast led by six points with 49 seconds left on the clock after Nick Holman kicked the Suns’ third goal in a row, before mature-age recruit Marty Hore slotted a goal on the run from 50 metres to level the score with 18 seconds to play. Then in a frantic finish to what had been an otherwise lacklustre affair, James Harmes sprayed a shot on goal from 30 metres out with seven seconds to play, McDonald spilt the mark he should have taken before kicking the ball off the ground and into the post with one second left on the clock. Tom McDonald celebrates after kicking the winning point. Source: Getty Images “That was pretty incredible,” McDonald said on Fox Footy after the one-point win. “I haven’t seen one like that for a long time. “It was pretty embarrassing to drop the mark, and the kick, I didn’t hit it real clean but it counts.” It was far from convincing, but it was enough to keep Melbourne supporters off the slopes at Mt Buller for a little bit longer this winter. What a difference one second makes. McDonald was the man of the moment, putting a poor start to the season behind him by kicking the game winning point after doubling his 2019 goal tally by kicking three goals. The 26-year-old was locked in an enthralling battle with Gold Coast recruit Sam Collins, who continued his stellar rise out of the VFL and back into the AFL, limiting McDonald for large parts of the game — except when it mattered most. Simon Goodwin’s men have now turned a 1-5 start into a far more respectable 3-5 after back-to-back one kick wins. They are far from out of the woods yet, but they can dare to dream. Although they face West Coast in Perth, Greater Western Sydney, Adelaide and Collingwood over the next month. Jarrod Witts is tackled by Nathan Jones and Clayton Oliver. Source: Getty Images BANGED UP DEES Simon Goodwin is already missing star defenders Steven May and Jake Lever. Now he might be missing Jordan Lewis and Michael Hibberd after the pair were injured on Saturday night. Gold Coast skipper David Swallow cleaned up Hibberd with a big bump, leaving the All-Australian with a collarbone injury, while Lewis limped off with a foot injury. Mobile forward Jake Melksham also injured his foot in the last quarter ANOTHER CAPTAIN’S KNOCK David Swallow may play off-Broadway for the smallest club in the AFL, but he is emerging as one of the more influential captains in the competition. Just like Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps, Swallow has the ability to carry his team through his commitment to the cause. Swallow was enormous on Saturday night, amassing 35 disposals, 22 contested possessions and 12 clearances to continue his brilliant start to 2019. Darcy Macpherson starred for the Suns on Saturday night. Source: Getty Images YOUNG SUN FIRES Darcy Macpherson missed almost all of last year after breaking his leg in Round 5, but he couldn’t be missed on Saturday. The small midfielder produced his best performance yet, setting a new personal best for disposals by early in the third quarter, before finishing with 27 disposals, 14 contested possessions and eight tackles. With ball magnet Brayden Fiorini missing due to a knee injury, Macpherson showed he has plenty to offer in Stuart Dew’s engine room going forward. The match starts at 4.35pm EST from Metricon Stadium. Get the ultimate AFL experience on your phone with the new FOX FOOTY App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android! Follow Round 8 of the 2019 AFL season in our live blog below. IF YOU CAN’T SEE IT, TAP HERE!<doc-sep>
May 11th, 2019 May 11th, 2019 Melbourne have somehow escaped with a one-point AFL win over Gold Coast with Tom McDonald shanking a behind off the post in the dying seconds of the match. The Demons looked like they were slipping to another defeat when Nick Holman's goal with less than a minute to play put them ahead but a career-first goal for Marty Hore and then McDonald's desperate scramble allowed Melbourne to steal a 8.13 (61) to 9.6 (60) win. "I knew any score would do it," McDonald said of his mistimed game-winner. "I knew there had to be 10-15 [seconds] at the very most on the last play. I probably should've spoiled it through and go t the score that way, but it was just about getting a foot on it. "Well, it works. It's not the honourable way to do it but it counts. We won. "Every game is absolutely critical." The loss was cruel on the Suns, who must have thought they'd claimed their fourth win of the season when Holman made the most of a vacant goal square to kick a goal on the run. From the next centre bounce the ball found its way to Hore, who coolly slotted with his left foot from 50-metres to level the scores. "It was a good feeling. When it went through I was pretty happy," Hore said of his goal. "I think the belief in the group, we always think we're a chance. Everyone played their role in the last minute and we just pulled it off." Dees celebrate the narrow win (AAP) The Demons again got the ball from the middle and charged inside the Suns' 50 as the clock ticked down. Eventually it broke to McDonald, who failed to make a clean connection on the bouncing ball but did enough to divert it on to the post before the final siren sounded. McDonald was the leading goal scorer in a scrappy affair, booting three majors while Holman and Ben Ainsworth had two each for the Suns. MacPherson pounces in front of goal Clayton Oliver was the busiest player on the ground with 38 disposals and 15 tackles while Jake Melksham had 11 marks. David Swallow picked up 35 disposals for the Suns, with Darcy McPherson (27 disposals, eight tackles) also impressive. Defender Michael Hibberd suffered a suspected broken collarbone after he and Suns' co-captain Swallow collided heavily contesting the ball late in the second quarter. Hibberd in trouble after nasty collision Jordan Lewis and Melksham also had to receive treatment in the dressing room for ankle knocks but both managed to return to the game. The Suns had injury concerns of their own when Sean Lemmens, in his first game back from an ankle injury, limped out of the game after hurting the same joint at the start of the third term. Victory lifts Melbourne to 3-5, the same record as the Suns, who have now lost four matches on the bounce. The Demons play West Coast in Perth next weekend while the Suns are away to Port Adelaide. ©AAP2019