MELBOURNE 3.3 6.6 11.8 16.8 (104)
BRISBANE 2.3 6.3 9.5 14.7 (91)
Goals: Melbourne: J Hogan 6 C Pedersen 3 J Garlett 2 A Brayshaw B Vince C Petracca J Harmes J Melksham. Brisbane: D Beams 3 T Rockliff 2 D Gardiner D Zorko E Hipwood H McCluggage J Allison J Barrett J Walker M Close R Bastinac.
Best: Melbourne: Hibberd, Melksham, Jones, Oliver, Hogan, Tyson, Lewis, Pedersen. Brisbane: D Beams, Zorko, Hipwood, Taylor, Rich, Mathieson, Mayes, Bastinac.
Umpires: Jacob Mollison, Brett Rosebury, Hayden Gavine.
Official Crowd: 30,422 at MCG.
A perfect winter afternoon at the MCG became a wretched, nervous experience for Melbourne fans on Sunday, as the Demons were forced to use all their might to scrape past bottom-of-the-ladder Brisbane Lions and remain on track to break their 10-season finals drought.
More AFL Real Footy Videos
Dees win thriller over Lions
Jesse Hogan slots six goals as Melbourne shake off the Brisbane Lions, 104-91
Melbourne led by 32 points early in the final term, their biggest lead of a tight match, only for Brisbane to kick four goals in a row and close the margin to seven points with seven minutes to play.
But with four minutes remaining, Cam Pedersen kicked his third goal of the match to settle Melbourne and open up a 13-point lead, although Brisbane cut the margin back to seven points via a Josh Walker major with just under two minutes left.
![Inspirational: Jesse Hogan bagged six goals on his AFL return.](http://web.archive.org./web/20171026203027im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/0/a/3/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gy0564.png/1503270390038.jpg)
With 11 seconds on the clock Angus Brayshaw converted a set shot, ensuring the win and a final margin of 13 points in an exhilarating and at times terrifying afternoon for those wearing red and dark blue.
The win, the Demons' 12th for 2017, came thanks largely to Jesse Hogan's six-goal haul, the Demon forward outlining his importance for Melbourne should they want to make an impact in September.
Off the back of a year in which he was treated for testicular cancer, lost his father to cancer and broke his collarbone two weeks ago, Hogan was inspirational in his return game.
The West Australian, celebrating game No.50, was the focal point for Melbourne's ballistic ball movement, which was stifled well by Brisbane, but by the third term had worked well enough to allow Hogan to be provided with and take his opportunities.
![Perfect timing: Cam Pedersen celebrates his match-sealing goal.](http://web.archive.org./web/20171026203027im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/0/a/2/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gy0564.png/1503270390038.jpg)
The experience of Jordan Lewis, Michael Hibberd and Jake Melksham was also important late, with that trio folding into deep defence to steady a Demons side that couldn't take a decisive grip on the game.
Where Melbourne began the game against St Kilda last week with punch, rhythm and timing, the Demons looked to be a few per cent off on Sunday. It didn't help that Brisbane found their stride instantly.
The Lions midfield was clearly on top early, with Dayne Zorko amassing 10 disposals in the first 15 minutes. Four of those touches were clearances.
The other Dayne, Beams, was also important, his accurate and penetrating field kicking a welcome tonic to the Lions' ball movement, their main weakness for the afternoon.
Given Brisbane's midfield dominance, Melbourne's defenders held out pretty well led by Hibberd. Brisbane wasted early opportunities and the Demons were good enough to take theirs, which mostly came while counter-attacking.
Melbourne's speed and cleanliness on the outside, when they got their hands on the footy, was good enough to keep them just ahead of the Lions at half-time, but there was a clear sense for in the Demons and their fans that the afternoon would not go to plan.
Players and fans alike howled in frustration at calls from the umpire, multiple 50-metre penalties were conceded for infringements on the mark and Bernie Vince collected Beams' head in a 50-50 contest, an incident that will surely attract the attention of the match review panel.
Vince, who has a bad record, will likely miss matches if found to have committed a striking or rough conduct offence. The Demons will hope that's only one match so he is available for their first final, should they qualify.
Melksham tagged Zorko from the second quarter onwards, with good results. Zorko kicked a goal and had seven disposals for the term, while Melksham kicked a goal, a behind and had 12 touches.
Melbourne then opened up a 21-point lead halfway through the third quarter thanks to consecutive goals from Alex Neal-Bullen, Pedersen and Hogan. However, Brisbane rallied to cut the margin to nine points.
The Demons responded though, stretching the margin to 15 points at three-quarter-time and then to 32 points early in the final term via goals to Christian Petracca, Hogan and James Harms.
Brisbane played high-risk football through the corridor, and it payed off, to cut the margin to seven points with only minutes left but the Demons found enough composure to win.