Melbourne clinched a seven-point win but it was the Western Bulldogs who could claim to have reaped the most from a Jekyll and Hyde NAB Challenge clash in Ballarat on Saturday.
The Demons dominated the opening half, but a combination of Paul Roos' men taking their foot off the pedal, and the Bulldogs lifting, produced a thrilling encounter.
From 45 points down at the main break the young Dogs surged to almost steal an upset win against a near full-strength Demons outfit.
Rookie Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge rightly was very happy with his side's fightback.
"We learnt a couple of things today about ourselves and adjustments we may need to make from time to time," Beveridge said.
"We had to make some. They dominated on the scoreboard and in possession, there's no doubt about that.
"So we needed to change a couple of things, which credit to the boys they did really, really well."
The Dogs' young midfield sparked the turnaround, with Mitch Honeychurch, Marcus Bontempelli combining with veteran Matthew Boyd and ruckman Will Minson to drag their side back into it.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Western Bulldogs: It was all about getting a look at some young guns with so many senior players on the sidelines and Mitch Honeychurch showed encouraging signs with limited support in midfield. Honeychurch managed to play three senior games last year, but should see more of the big time in 2015. He was nominated as a potential replacement for Tom Liberatore during the week by Dale Morris and he did his round one chances no harm.
NEW FACES
Western Bulldogs: The Dogs' first draft pick Toby McLean covered the ground well and showed some class in possession. Former Hawks defender Jordan Kelly found it tough going with limited supply up forward. Midfielder Bailey Dale ran himself from contest-to-contest through midfield, while Caleb Daniel burrowed in across half-forward and Lukas Webb showed some promise. Declan Hamilton and Roarke Smith would have soaked up the experience against a near full-strength team.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.0.1 0.1.1 0.4.4 0.9.8 (62)
MELBOURNE 0.2.2 0.8.4 0.9.6 0.10.9 (69)
SUPERGOALS
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Melbourne: Nil
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Cordy 2, Grant, Bontempelli, Goodes, Minson, Boyd, Jong
Melbourne: Garlett 2, Kennedy-Harris 2, Cross, Hogan, Dawes, Jones, Frost, Watts
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Honeychurch, Boyd, Bontempelli, Goodes, Minson, Stringer
Melbourne: Kennedy-Harris, Garlett, Jones, Grimes, Cross, Salem, Lumumba
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: TBC
Melbourne: Aaron VandenBerg (head)
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: TBC
Melbourne: TBC
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Deboy, Hosking, Jeffrey
Crowd: 6000 approx. at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat
