FOR the first time – in a long time – the Melbourne faithful entered the ‘G with genuine expectation.

Hope and optimism had remained for the most ardent red and blue supporter, but on the back of Melbourne’s stunning three-point win over the Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval last round – its first in South Australia since 2001 – there was reason to be excited again.

It set the scene for an eagerly-awaited match up against the Western Bulldogs.

The pre-match Field of Women 2014 event – highlighted by the Pink Lady on the hallowed turf – was a moving moment and laid the foundations for the night ahead. It highlighted the importance of so much away from the sporting field, but also gave meaning to how much our game can make a difference.

It was quite simply a wonderful opportunity for all to witness or be involved in. 

And from a sporting context, that word opportunity was either going to be taken by the Demons or Dogs. For both, it was a critical contest.

Both teams entered round eight with two wins.

The Demons came in with form on the board, after their win in the city of churches, while the Dogs had three consecutive losses to their name.

In the end, it was the Dogs who took their opportunities. And it was clearly a missed one by the Demons, as reinforced by midfielder Dom Tyson, who had 27 disposals, 11 clearances, nine inside 50s and two goals against the Dogs.

“The win in Adelaide was huge for the players, as much as the supporters, so we thought we’d roll that in to this week,” he told Dee TV.

“AFL footy – you can’t take your foot off the pedal for a minute and it doesn’t matter what opposition – it’s going to be a tough game of footy and it’s never going to be an easy win. You’ve got to grind and work hard and do all the things that Roosy wants us to do.

“We probably let ourselves down tonight.”

It was Melbourne’s golden opportunity to win two in succession for the first time since rounds 13 and 14, 2011, when the late Dean Bailey’s men defeated Fremantle and Richmond respectively.

Although it was a frustrating result for the Demons – given most red and blue fans came with an expectation – it was also the realisation of how far the Dees have come in such a short space of time.

Remember, it was only in round two when Melbourne went down to the West Coast Eagles by 93 points.

But the fact that the Demons have lost their six matches by an average of 33.5 points – or 21.6 when you take away that one shocker against the Eagles – and the Dees have come a long way since averaging 72-point losses after eight rounds last year.

Although losing grates at coach Paul Roos, he knows full well that improvement has been made and will continue. But the challenge for Roos’ men is to play 120 minutes of competitive football.

“It’s still frustrating for me, but clearly a lot of areas have improved significantly. For us, we just have to continue to improve – that’s what we have to do week in, week out,” he said.

“We were pretty good for long periods, but just not long enough and the Bulldogs did it for longer and that’s why they won.

“We’re certainly doing a lot of things right, but it just shows you that you have to do a lot more things to win games of footy and we understand that.”

It’s interesting to note that Melbourne also kicked its highest score for the season against the Dogs: 12.11 (83). This was another step forward, on the back of its improved defence this year, which has come on in leaps and bounds.  

“I think that’s (the forward line) starting to come – there’s no doubt,” he said.

“At times we looked really good, but weeks one to three, we didn’t have a lot of bigs up there. Round four onwards, while we haven’t kicked big scores, we’ve certainly been able to go forward with a bit more certainty. [Rounds] one to three were really difficult, [but] it’s coming together.

“It’s a big gap – there’s no question – and we understand that, but we’re making inroads in certain areas and we know we’ve got to keep getting better in a lot of other areas as well.”

And judging on the improvement already shown, Melbourne will continue to build strongly under Roos.