TO SOME, it wasn't the prettiest of wins, but for Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin, his team’s 17-point victory over Carlton was a dominant display.

Joining media following the Friday night match, Goodwin had a differing opinion on the overall game sentiment, expressing how proud he was of the side's performance.  

“It wasn’t pretty and there were some inefficiencies, and we understand that,” Goodwin said.

“But from our perspective it was a fairly dominant performance, we had 40 front-half turnovers, we defended incredibly well all night.

“I was really proud of our boys, they didn’t waiver one bit in their mindset and mentality.

“You could feel that all night, they just bought into the right things and yes, we’ve still got some work to do…[but] we’re really rapt with the performance.”

Both clubs headed into the match in need of a win, Melbourne having come off back-to-back losses, while Carlton were looking for its first win in five weeks.

From the first bounce, the Demons were ruthless on their home deck, in particular with their efforts in defence, allowing the Blues entry inside their forward half just 39 times.

While some fans have been discouraged with recent performances, Goodwin chose to instil confidence within the Demon faithful that his side was on track.  

05:57

RD 12 | Media Conference | Simon Goodwin

Watch Melbourne's press conference after round 12's match against Carlton

“The last few weeks haven’t been disastrous, we’ve played two pretty strong footy teams, in really good form and lost by a kick in both games,” Goodwin said.

“We’re still trending in the right way, we’ve still got work to do but we feel like our game’s is in good shape in areas that we think are really important to playing the type of footy you want to play.  

“Tonight, we defended in a way, and played in a way, that gives you a chance to win most games of footy and that is the most pleasing thing.”

A talking point coming out of Melbourne's last three games has been its inaccuracy in front of goals, having kicked 29 goals from 64 scoring shots. 

But with the second highest percentage in the league, Goodwin continued to speak positively about the program the club has built, confident in the Demons' on-field performances.

“It’s been something we’ve been really strong at for the whole year, except for those last two weeks," Goodwin said. 

“We have a really in-depth program within that space, we work incredibly hard, and we give a lot of time to our goal-kicking.

“So, that is something we think will turn around pretty quickly.”