Melbourne and Hawthorn will face off in the grand final of the AFLX tournament at Etihad Stadium.

The Demons recorded wins over Carlton and North Melbourne to book their place in Friday night’s decider, while the Hawks defeated Essendon and St Kilda to progress in front of 22,585 fans.

Melbourne scored a comprehensive 82-54 win over the Blues in the first of six pool matches, their strategy of setting up shots at goal from outside the arc netting them seven 10-pointers.

Jake Melksham led the charge for the Demons with three goals from outside the arc.

Hawthorn were happy to find marking targets inside the 40m arc in the second game against the Bombers and that proved an equally effective tactic, the Hawks prevailing 72-54.

Carlton departed the competition after a strong North Melbourne squad dealt them a 83-68 defeat.

The Roos’ total was the highest recorded after the first 13 matches of the abbreviated game, played by seven-a-side teams over 10-minute halves on a soccer-sized pitch.

North fielded the most-experienced side of the evening with players of the calibre of Ben Cunnington, Jarrad Waite, Shaun Higgins and Jamie Macmillan included.

The Bombers were eliminated when they suffered their second loss of the night, St Kilda recording a 52-37 win in their first game.

The Roos bowed out when the Demons scored a 70-46 win despite only scoring one 10-pointer, with Melksham again effective from long range.

The Saints and Hawks played off in the last pool game for the second spot in the grand final.

St Kilda led by 24 points at halftime, but Hawthorn clicked into gear to score a 77-55 win.

A crowd of 10,253 witnessed the initial AFLX experiment on Thursday night at Coopers Stadium, the home ground of A-League club Adelaide United.

Adelaide downed Geelong by eight points to win the inaugural AFLX grand final.