MELBOURNE coach Neale Daniher was at a loss to explain why his side was belted in the first term against the Sydney Swans on Saturday night.

The home side controlled the clearances in the first quarter at the SCG, setting up the 49-point win after dominating the midfield battle.

Despite the Demons going into the clash with a 0-4 record Daniher said his team had started matches well, so to be five goals down at the first break was hardly an ideal start.

"The Swans were too good early, you know they really jumped us," Daniher said.

"We were hammered basically in the first half in that area of the game (clearances) and that’s the way the game went.

"We were at our worst in the first 20 minutes, and that’s something we need to address.

"Our starts have been very good all year but it counted for nothing tonight. There’s no excuses for the first 20 minutes."

Daniher said he was pleased his team was able to fight back after quarter-time and take the game up to the Swans, but the Demons lacked firepower.

"We just didn’t have a forward line structure," he said.

"We had two first-gamers up there and Col Sylvia’s played 30 (games) and Dunny’s played about eight or nine (games)."We just really haven’t got a structure to kick a lot of goals at the moment."Daniher said the debut of Ricky Petterd, the efforts of his backline and the continued return to form of Aaron Davey were other positives the Demons could draw on ahead of their round six clash with Port