Melbourne’s midfield aces Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw have inspired a 57-point demolition of AFL strugglers North Melbourne.
Petracca and Brayshaw were outstanding in the Demons’ 13.14 (92) to 5.5 (35) win at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night.
The pair combined for 58 disposals as Melbourne’s completed a remarkable reversal of fortunes in a five-day stint in Adelaide.
The Demons arrived in the South Australian capital last Wednesday under a blowtorch after club chairman Glen Bartlett labelled them insipid in a preceding loss to Port.
But they crushed winless Adelaide by 51 points last Wednesday night and then dismantled North to return to finals contention.
Melbourne now sit in ninth spot on the ladder – and with a game in hand on most other clubs – while the Roos remain in the mire in 16th spot.
The Demons’ Sunday victory was full of midfield substance with Petracca (29 disposals, one goal), Clayton Oliver (31 disposals, one goal) and Brayshaw – whose 29 touches included a goal and eight inside 50s – all instrumental.
Emerging key forward Sam Weideman kicked two goals and missed three other gilt-edged chances, Bailey Fritsch also slotted two majors, while Kysaiah Pickett (one goal) was eye-catching in patches.
The Kangaroos relied solely on Nick Larkey who booted four of his side’s five goals – the other came from a Majak Daw in the second minute of the match.
North defender Luke McDonald was a prolific ball-winner with a game-high 33 disposals and teammates Trent Dumont (27 touches), Luke Davies-Uniacke (24 possessions) and Shaun Higgins (27 touches) were solid.
The Kangaroos led by 10 points at quarter-time but managed just two more goals in the game as the tide turned Melbourne’s way.
The Demons booted three goals to one in both the second and third terms to create a 16-point buffer at three-quarter time.
And just as they did against Adelaide when they scored seven last-term goals, the Demons again went on a scoring spree in the final quarter.
This time, Melbourne kicked six consecutive goals while restricting the flagging Roos to a solitary point.
