MELBOURNE has sunk to its fifth straight loss, going down to the Sydney Swans by 49 points in slippery conditions at the SCG on Saturday night.
The Swans ran out 17.7 (109) to 8.12 (60) winners, leaving the Demons without a win for the season.
Melbourne battled on gamely after being jumped by six goals to one in the first quarter.
Behind by 37-points at the main break, the Demons could easily have wilted when Swans Tim Schmidt and Nick Davis booted the opening goals of the second half, but a brilliant goal by livewire forward Aaron Davey and a wobbly punt by Cameron Bruce edged Melbourne closer to the Swans and the Demons managed to outscore the Swans by three points for the quarter.
After a quiet start to the season, Davey found some touch, kicking three goals.
His goal was followed by a super goal from Matthew Bate from 55m on the run.
A brilliant goal from the boundary in the third term was another Davey highlight.
Melbourne will also be buoyed by the performance of debutant Ricky Petterd, who was prominent in a variety of roles.
Cameron Bruce and Brent Moloney (26 touches) were valiant in the midfield, while Brad Miller provided a target up forward after being shifted from his defensive assignment on Hall.
The loss for the Demons was further soured when Bate hobbled off with a leg injury in the final quarter.
SYDNEY 6.2 10.5 12.7 17.7 (109)
MELBOURNE 1.2 4.4 6.9 8.12 (60)
Goals: Sydney: B Hall 4 N Davis 2 A Schneider 2 N Malceski J Bolton R O'Keefe A Goodes D Jolly J McVeigh T Schmidt J Moore B Kirk. Melbourne: A Davey 3 L Dunn B Miller M Bate C Bruce R Petterd.
Best: Sydney: B Kirk B Hall J Bolton N Malceski J McVeigh L Barry D Jolly. Melbourne: C Bruce A Davey B Moloney S Godfrey R Petterd.
Umpires: H Kennedy B Rosebury M Nicholls.
Official crowd: 23,354 at the SCG.
