IN JUST his 20^th AFL match, Dom Tyson experienced only his third win – but it was one to remember, as he kicked Melbourne’s last goal of the match to help seal a thrilling three-point win over the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

Tyson put the Demons up by 16 points at the 23-minute mark of the final term, when he won the ball from a stoppage and in heavy traffic managed to land a beauty. For the former Giant, who played in GWS’ first win in 2012, and first-year Dee, it was his best moment so far in his highly promising career.

“It’s probably the best win I’ve been involved with in the AFL – I haven’t been involved in many, but every win I cherish. That’s definitely the best goal I’ve kicked in terms of the context of the game – and probably my best goal in the AFL,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“You never take the result for granted. It’s hard to come by in AFL footy – there are good teams out there that train hard and you like to think you train just as hard, but everyone is doing similar things. So if you can get up in tight contests – it builds confidence in the group and the faith in the process.

“There were plenty of bodies around the stoppage and we’d been doing a lot of work at training – like taking the tackler on a bit more. I was lucky enough to get through one and put it on the shin and float it through nicely. It was a good celebration and then we were lucky enough to hang on after that.”

On the back of a competitive hit-out against the Sydney Swans at the MCG last round, Tyson said the Demons entered their clash against the Crows with confidence.

“It was a really good feeling just heading into the game,” he said.

“We had meetings all through the week and we weren’t playing bad footy – the Carlton win was great and then there was a lapse with the Gold Coast game. Even the Sydney game – we matched it with them for lengthy periods.

“We thought if we could put things together, get things rolling and finish off our good work going forward – we’d be well and truly in it.”

Tyson said the Demons were now at the point where they “definitely” believe they are in the contest each week. 

“We can go into games each week now and know we’re not just here to compete and have an honourable loss. We want to be right in the mix come three quarter-time,” he said.

“We want to be able to back it up next week. After our last win against Carlton, we were up and down against Gold Coast.

“There were still periods in the game where we didn’t dominate and let them back in, so we’ll have a look and see where we can tidy up a few things.”