AS Port Adelaide prepares to face Melbourne at Adelaide Oval in Round 14 of the 2018 AFL season, portadelaidefc.com.au looks back on the last time the sides met.

It was Round 18 of the 2017 season and Port Adelaide was looking to record a third straight victory against a Melbourne side which was looking to bounce back after a big loss to Adelaide.

The sides met at the MCG in front of a small crowd of just 27,068 and it was a poor start for the visiting Power.

Kept goalless for the first quarter, it took until the 23-minute mark of the second term before the Power had its first major.

The Demons were slightly wasteful in front of goal but still led by 32-points at the main break.

With Port looking to cement a place in the top four, the visitors fought back in the second half, led by the brilliant Robbie Gray who had 10 contested possessions, five clearances and four inside 50s in the third quarter, and captain Travis Boak, who booted two of his four goals in that term.

Despite their efforts, the lead remained at 28 points at the final change.

The day was further soured when Chad Wingard injured his left ankle after Demons defender Sam Frost tried to smother a ball and ended up diving across his leg.

While he received treatment, his teammates cut the margin to just 16 points within five minutes of the last quarter but an unlikely comeback was off the cards when Jake Melksham slotted his third goal from a tight set shot.

An interesting side note was that Jack Watts was returning from injury for the Demons and Jack Trengove was playing his first senior of the season and just his fourth since 2014 after a problematic foot injury – both are now at Port Adelaide.

MELBOURNE              4.4       8.8       11.8     13.10 (88)
PORT ADELAIDE        0.3       3.6       6.10     9.11   (65) 

GOALS
Melbourne: Hogan 3, Melksham 3, Garlett 2, Petracca 2, T.McDonald, Harmes, Hannan
Port Adelaide: Boak 4, Westhoff 2, Trengove, Wingard, Dixon

BEST
Melbourne: Hibberd, Tyson, Hogan, Hunt, Gawn, Viney, Jetta
Port Adelaide: R.Gray, Boak, Ebert, Powell-Pepper, Wines, S.Gray

INJURIES 
Melbourne: Gawn (right ankle)
Port Adelaide: Wingard (left ankle), Broadbent (leg)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Nicholls, Meredith

Official crowd: 27,068 at the MCG

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