Dons Challenge the Champs, Queen’s Birthday, 1891

There was phenomenal public interest in the clash between undefeated teams Essendon and South Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday. A record crowd of 36,185 saw one of the fastest and most entertaining contests ever seen at the EMCG. As in most big games umpire J.J. Trait officiated. South started brilliantly and with systematic and ruthless efficiency had the Dons on the ropes. Essendon was completely overwhelmed and its players’ nervous fumbling of the ball betrayed a lack of confidence. South peppered the goals and Peter Burns was leading the charges, but he missed three or four good chances to put the visitors ahead. This was a real let-off for the Same Old who recovered sufficiently for ace Colin Campbell to secure its first goal from a place-kick. However, it was South’s quarter and its superiority was eventually translated into “Jockey” Fitzpatrick’s goal. Burns then made up for his early profligacy with a prodigious place-kick to give the red and white the lead at the first break. South still looked a million dollars at the beginning of the next term and Archie McMurray and Billy Windley (who was having a ding dong battle with opponent Billy Crebbin in the centre) gave the Dons the run around. This time the champs made the most of it as Edgar Barrett kicked a third goal, and a minute later, ex-northerner Harry Todd made it four-one! Essendon was going nowhere, but out of a near hopeless situation the game began to turn its way. Chas. Pearson goaled from a free kick, Colin Campbell grabbed another a minute later, and when Jim Julien kicked truly with a magnificent long goal the Same Old had somehow put themselves back in the contest and was on equal terms when the half time bell rang! The second half was even better than the first! Both sides produced superb football and went at it hammer and tongs. The massive crowd cheered as the game’s tempo lifted to new heights. There was nothing between the sides in a pulsating contest and they were locked at five-all at three quarter time. Great play continued in the last and through some fine work by Jack Mouritz the Dons took the lead, only to have South quickly restore parity. Scores were still level when Todd marked within range just before the final bell. Unfortunately, he could not convert and an exhilarating game ended in a seven-all draw. Essendon had pushed South on previous occasions and once again demonstrated it could mix it with best. The challenge for the Dons was maintaining that quality.